


Inexhaustible Source of Magic

by mseg_21, tinyarmedtrex



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Gryffindor Bill Denbrough, Hufflepuff Ben Hanscom, Hufflepuff Mike Hanlon, M/M, Ravenclaw Richie Tozier, Ravenclaw Stanley Uris, Slytherin Beverly Marsh, Slytherin Eddie Kaspbrak, Triwizard Tournament with a Reddie Twist
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2019-05-23
Packaged: 2019-06-13 14:26:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 61,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15366636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mseg_21/pseuds/mseg_21, https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinyarmedtrex/pseuds/tinyarmedtrex
Summary: The Triwizard Tournament is back at Hogwarts and this time, two students from each school will be chosen to participate. When Richie Tozier and Eddie Kaspbrak are elected by the Legendary Goblet of Fire to compete, they must come together as a team and overcome their differences to prove to themselves and to others what they are capable of.





	1. Chapter 1

_Hogwarts, 2008_

 

“Good evening, everyone! Now that we’re all settled in and our newest students are sorted, I would like to welcome you all to a new year here at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.” Minerva McGonagall, the school’s Headmistress said, voice booming out across the Great Hall where the Start-of-Term Feast was being held. Every student, every professor had gone quiet the moment she had taken her place behind the lectern. “I would also like to use this opportunity to make a marvelous announcement. This is going to be a very special year for us all. I am certain that all of you have heard about the Triwizard Tournament.”

A series of excited murmurs and whispers spreads throughout the room upon hearing this, as the students wondered out loud what this might mean. McGonagall raised her hands to silence them.

“This year, our very own school has been chosen to host the 127th Triwizard Tournament—”

“That’s bloody awesome!” A Ravenclaw student with dark curls and thick glasses exclaimed loud enough for everyone to hear, effectively interrupting Professor McGonagall. The outburst earned him an elbow to the side from the boy with the golden curls sitting next to him, looking like he wished he were on the opposite side of the table instead.

“Thank you Mr. Tozier.” McGonagall said, sternly but with a small smile towards the sixth-year. “It is in fact an exciting event. But you must also remember it is a dangerous one as well. Which is why the rule that no student under the age of sixteen is allowed to participate, will prevail.”

Some of the younger students muttered their complaints, but McGonagall kept going.

“This year however, the tournament will be slightly different. For instance, Hogwarts will be competing against two very special wizarding schools. The great North American school, Ilvermorny and the Brazilian wizarding school, Castelobruxo, meaning it will be the first International Triwizard Tournament in the history of magic.” McGonagall noticed the excitement in the students’ faces and she nodded in agreement. “Not only that, but there will be not only one champion per school, but two. Those who are chosen will have to work together and if they win, they will win as a team and receive the Triwizard Cup, bringing honor to their school.”

Cheers and conversation breaks among the four House tables. The noise rose as the students discuss the news. Not even McGonagall raising her hands in a placating manner is enough to stop it.

_“Isn't this the same tournament where someone died in 1998?”_

_“I didn’t know there was a Brazilian wizarding school.”_

_“Where is Brazil?”_

_“Two champions from each school? Shouldn’t it be called the Sixwizard Tournament then?”_

“Students.” She said, but the chatter didn’t die down. She raised her voice, “Students!” Still nothing. Then she cleared her throat before yelling, “SILENCE!”

The room went silent immediately. When the Headmistress speaks again her voice is back to a regular volume. “Preparations for the arrival of our guests are already being made and they will arrive in the upcoming months. I expect you to be as kind and welcoming to them as you are to one another. On October 31st, during the Halloween feast, the champions will be chosen by the legendary Goblet of Fire. Whoever wishes to be a part of the tournament has until then to place their names in it, but remember, once you do, there is no going back, so think wisely before you make a decision. For now, let us enjoy this great feast as we embark on what is bound to be a very interesting year. Once again, everyone, welcome.”

And with that, she stepped down from the lectern and took her seat among the other professors at the main table. The moment she did, hundreds of plates filled with all kinds of food appeared in front of the students and as they dug in, everyone started to discuss the news that they had just heard.  

**-**

**Eddie**

“So, Eddie, what do you think about this tournament?” Beverly asked after grabbing yet another treacle tart from one of the plates in front of her. While everyone was gnawing on the roast beef, the pork chops or the boiled potatoes, Beverly had gone straight for the desserts, her sweet tooth getting the best of her, just like every year.

“I think it’s a sure way to get killed, Bev.” Eddie replied, “In fact, people have gotten killed before, that’s why they stopped doing it.”

Beverly chuckled, “I think it sounds like fun.”

“You think putting your life in danger is fun?”

“You know me, Eddie, you should know the answer to that question.”

Eddie chuckled because she was right, after six years of being best friends, Eddie knew Beverly rather well. They had met during their second night at Hogwarts, when Eddie had found Beverly in the dungeons, staring at a wall with a focused expression. He had noticed the redhead girl since day one, as she had been sorted into Slytherin right after him, but hadn’t had the chance to talk to her.

“Basilisk.” Eddie heard her mutter. That was the password to enter their Common Room, but he couldn’t think of a reason why the girl was speaking it to a random wall. She repeated the word and sighed. “Why isn’t it working?”

Eddie had cleared his throat and moved closer to her. “Hi, what are you doing?”

The girl had turned around, startled but she grinned when her eyes found Eddie. “Well, I was trying to get into our Common Room but I think I got the password wrong.”

“Oh. No, you got the password right, you’re just, standing in front of the wrong wall.”

She scrunched up her nose and turned to stare at the wall in confusion. Then she had burst laughing.

“No wonder I wasn’t sorted into Ravenclaw.” she said in between giggles.

Eddie had joined her in her laughter. “Even _they_ have a door for an entrance. I don’t understand why we get a wall. Especially when they all look the same.”

Beverly nodded, “Care to show me the right stone wall? I’m Beverly Marsh by the way.” She said, presenting her hand for Eddie to shake.

“I’m Eddie Kaspbrak.” He had answered, offering his own hand and a smile.

They had been inseparable ever since, even going as far as joining the Slytherin Quidditch team together during their second year. That same year they had met Beverly’s now boyfriend, Ben Hanscom, a nice Hufflepuff kid and probably the only student in their school whose favorite subject was History of Magic, something Eddie and Bev would often tease him about.

Eddie is brought back by Beverly slamming her cup on the table and picking up their conversation. “Besides, there’s also the promise of bringing honor to our lovely school.” Eddie snorted at that. She smirked, “And winning lots and lots of gold.”

Eddie let out a laugh at his friend’s comment. “You should have led with that.”

They continued eating, listening to every student sitting on the Slytherin table around them talk about what they would do if they won the tournament. Eddie raised an eyebrow at Beverly when he heard some seventh-year say they would use the prize to buy a hundred Dungbombs from Zonko’s and send them to Professor Longbottom disguised as a Christmas present. They both chuckled under their breaths, which didn’t go unnoticed by a certain someone on their table.

“What are you laughing at, Kaspbrak?” Henry Bowers said. He was sitting at the end of the table, a couple of people away from Eddie and Beverly but his loud voice was still heard over the chatter. The moment he heard it, Eddie tensed up immediately, he looked up and right to find Henry and his friends looking at him. “I wonder what _you_ would do if you won the tournament? Maybe buy a bigger house, where your mother can fit?”

Henry’s friends erupted in laughter and Eddie rolled his eyes so hard, he could feel a headache start to form. He was used to Henry’s comments, he had been listening to them since his first year at Hogwarts, but that doesn’t mean they don’t bother him all the same.

Patrick, one of Henry’s friends, jumped in. “He would never win. In fact, Kaspbrak wouldn’t even put his name in the Goblet of Fire without his mother’s approval and we know she would never give it to him. Too afraid of losing her Eddie bear.” He mocked, a sardonic grin on his face.

Eddie took a deep breath, a comeback already on his tongue but Bev beat him to it.

“Go choke on a fucking chicken bone, Hockstetter.” Beverly snapped, voice cold with rage. Patrick just laughed and went back to his conversation with Henry. Bev looked at Eddie. “Can you imagine the joy of coming back next year and not finding them here?”

Eddie snorted. “That’s only if they don’t fail their N.E.W.Ts,” he muttered and Beverly shrugged in response.

“I would be willing to do their N.E.W.Ts for them if it meant getting a year of peace.” Bev chuckled. When Eddie didn’t say or do anything, only stared at his plate, she frowned. “Come on, Eddie, don’t listen to them. They’re fucking idiots. You could definitely win this tournament, you are an amazing wizard.”

He looked up at her. “I know I could, but that doesn’t mean they’re not right about something.”

“What are they right about?”

“My mother would never let me do it. You know what it takes for her to let me come back every year. She just agreed to let me have my wand during the holidays, just imagine what she would do if I told her I want to participate in something that has killed and maimed people before.”

“Probably drag you back home and lock you in the basement or something.” Bev snickered, but Eddie didn’t laugh at her joke. Instead his expression turned thoughtful as he allowed himself to think what _would_ happen if he actually decided to participate in the tournament. His mother would most definitely go crazy. Even the thought of Eddie getting on the Hogwarts Express every September made her break down into tears, he can only imagine what her reaction would be if the had to confront a dragon or go into the Great Lake.

But, what if she didn’t find out?

It wouldn’t be the first time Eddie lied or omitted something from his weekly letters, and her hatred for the magic world would keep her from reading the Daily Prophet, the primary source of news for wizards. And if he were to win, well, he could finally get away from her.

The thought alone had Eddie smiling.

Beverly frowned, confused. “Eddie? What are you thinking?”

Eddie leaned forward, towards his friend, eyes glowing with excitement. “Think about it, Bev, if I won this, if I got this prize, I could move out, for good. No more living under Sonia Kaspbrak’s roof and her no-magic rules.” he said, keeping his voice low enough for only Beverly to hear. “And, can you imagine what Henry and Patrick would do if I won? That would definitely show them that I’m not some scared kid who is afraid to stand up to his mother and his tormentors.”

Beverly’s eyes widened and she let out an incredulous laugh. “Damn, Eddie. You’re actually thinking about participating in this, aren’t you?”

“No, Bev.” Eddie said, shaking his head. Then his expression turned determined and he smirked. “I am thinking about _winning_ this thing.”

**-**

**Richie**

“I’m gonna win this thing, Stan.” Richie said, gesturing around wildly while shoveling treacle tarts into his mouth.

“What? The contest to see who can choke first?” Stan asked dryly, leaning back so he wasn’t hit by the crumbs that were flying out of Richie’s mouth.

“ _No_.” Richie replied, swallowing thickly.

He noticed that Greta was listening and dropped his voice before continuing. “The tournament. I’m going to win.” He explained.  “I can fight dragons and rescue damsels and shit.”

Greta must have overheard anyway because she scoffed and said, “Richie, this contest requires someone who’s intelligent to win. Not Ravenclaw’s joke.” A few of her friends joined in her laughing.

Richie gave her the finger and turned to Stan, ignoring her and the nickname. He was used to it. Used to being mocked for not being as quick and clever as other Ravenclaws. Everyone thought that him being in their house was a fluke, a joke by the Sorting Hat. But it wasn’t, just because he got stuck on the riddles to open the door didn’t mean he was stupid. He just, he wasn’t smart in the same way as the others. Sure, he didn’t work on crossword puzzles for fun and got bored with the reading assignments. And yes, he had the record for most detentions for a single Ravenclaw student (but that was just because he kept getting caught with his pranks, not because he was stupid). But neither of those things meant that he didn’t belong in Ravenclaw. It felt like he spent the better part of every year either trying to prove that or getting yelled at for not acting like a Ravenclaw should.

It didn’t help that he was muggle born and his parents were both dentists. He had missed out on a lot of the early wizarding life that others found obvious. They thought his gaps in knowledge were hilarious- like not knowing where Godric’s Hollow was, or how he didn’t know that the stairs moved until he was stranded on a staircase. Henry and his crew still brought that up from time to time, calling him a crybaby because he had started to whimper when it happened during his first month at Hogwarts and Filch had to get a ladder to rescue him. He had thought they were going to send him home, what kind of wizard gets stuck on a staircase? Flitwick had reassured him, telling him that Henry had gotten trapped until well into his third year.

But he still wanted to prove everyone wrong by entering, and winning, the tournament. If he did, everyone would finally stop teasing him for being stupid. The tournament was infamous for being difficult and testing a variety of skills. The 10,000 gallon prize money didn’t hurt either.

“Stan, we have to enter. We’d be the dream team.” He said, leaning over to his best friend, who was looking at him warily, like he always did when Richie had an idea that he was trying to drag him into. He had that same look when Richie had convinced him to let him use the prefects bathroom last year- and again when Stan had walked in to find that Richie had flooded it. He still swore that it wasn’t his fault, the tub wouldn’t drain and the mermaid had just giggled when he asked for help.

After six years together, Stan was used to Richie’s schemes. They had met on the train, the first day of school. Richie had been running late, he had spent most of the morning trying to convince his parents that yes, he could bring a rat to school, and then they had gotten lost trying to find platform 9¾. As a result he barely made it on the train and had fallen into the first open compartment, which was empty except for a boy with tight curls who had a small golden bird perched on his shoulder and a large book open on his lap. Both of them were peering over the book, unaware of Richie’s entrance.

“Hiya!” He said, throwing his bag and cage down on the opposite seat. “I’m Richie, what’s _that_?” He asked, pushing his glasses up and pointing at the bird.

The boy looked up at Richie, blinking slowly. “This is Percy, he’s a Golden Snidget.”

“That right? He looks like a tennis ball. A golden snigger?” Richie went to poke him and both the bird and boy ruffled indignantly.

“Snidget.” The boy said, leaning away from Richie’s outstretched hand. “And that’s because they used to use him as the golden snitch in quidditch. They were bred to look like this.”

“And you picked one? As a pet? Instead of an owl or something cool?”

The boy glared at Richie. “Percy is cool. And he’s better than some diseased rat.” He said, peering at Richie’s rat, which was gnawing on the bars of the cage.

Richie looked at his new pet, deflating slightly. He had thought he picked out a cool pet, trying to fit in with all the wizards but maybe not. From the list the school had sent he thought a rat sounded like the best one, something that could sit on his shoulder and he could train to do tricks. “This is Cheddar.” Richie said, giving the rat a snack and not looking at the boy again. He had been so excited to come to Hogwarts, even if it did have a stupid name, but this morning had scared him. He barely made it on the train, how was he supposed to learn magic? Going to Diagon Alley with his parents last month had been thrilling and terrifying, it was a whole different world that made no sense to him.

“Cheddar is a good name.” The other boy said, seeming to pick up on the change in Richie’s demeanor. “I’m Stanley Uris.” He held out his hand.

“Richie Tozier.” He said, trying to shake Stan’s hand the right way. He had never shaken hands before but he thought it was supposed to be firm so that’s what he did, gripping the other boy’s hand hard. Stan winced and Richie worried he had overdone it. Stan pulled back and asked Richie what he knew about Hogwarts (not much) and filled him in on what he had heard. Stan was from a wizarding family but was an only child and his parents had both done to another school so he had never seen it either, which made Richie feel a little better. Both of them had gaped at their first view of Hogwarts later that night, tipping their heads so far back that they nearly toppled out of their small boat.

It took several years for Richie to realize that Stan was being nice to him, something that rarely happened once they were friends. Stan was Richie’s first friend at school and the person who taught him about the wizarding world. They were both sorted into Ravenclaw, which Stan pretended to hate but Richie knew he was secretly happy for, and they had been inseparable since.

The two journeyed through Hogwarts together, alone at first but slowly making other friends.  They were often joined by Stan’s crush, Mike, a Hufflepuff who knew more about plants than anyone Richie had ever met. He would rattle off facts about plants when he got nervous, something Stan found adorable and Richie found hilarious. Mike had a big heart and was a good foil to Stan’s intense personality. The two had been dancing around each other for nearly three years, neither willing to make the first move. Richie found it exhausting. He had tried locking them in closets several times- unfortunately, sometimes he forgot that he was dealing with wizards and that a simple alohomora would free them. He kept trying though.

Besides Mike, they were close with Bill, a Gryffindor that Richie had been paired with for potions second year. They had survived because of Bill’s skills and Richie’s jokes, becoming fast friends after that. Bill would sit with them for meals sometimes, when he could get away from his table.

“Stan, enter with me. Come on, it’ll be brilliant.” Richie prodded him, trying to draw Stan’s attention away from his dinner.

Stan gave him a withering look that hadn’t worked on him for years. “I’m not entering this ego contest. You know a Gryffindor will win, they get all the attention anyway.”

“It’s time for a Ravenclaw revolution!” Richie cried, punching the air. “Come on Stanny. Do it for the house pride?” Stan shook his head. “For the money?” Another shake. “To impress Mike?”

Stan glanced over at his crush, who was sitting next to his friend, Ben, and laughing uproariously.

“I’ll think about it.” He mumbled.

“Excellent!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Richie opened his mouth to retort but was distracted as Eddie scored another goal and the crowd cheered loudly. “He’s at it again! My Eds, scoring on and off the field. Well, he could score. Look me up Eddie, I’m available. With that, Slytherin pulls ahead, 100 to 50. Lucas, now would be the time to find that snitch! But don’t worry, everyone is distracted by cutey- Eddie Spaghetti. Has everyone noticed how well that uniform fits him?”

**Richie**

“Slytherin pulls ahead with that goal from chaser, Eddie Kaspbrak. You know, I’ve been trying to get him to hit _my_ quaffle like that for years but he hasn’t taken me...”

“Mr. Tozier!” McGonagall's voice rang out, stopping Richie before he launched into another tirade about how attractive Eddie was.

“Headmistress, look at him, how can I not comment?” He asked earnestly, pointing at the small figure of Eddie on his broom, who was pointedly ignoring Richie.

She pursed her lips. “I’m sure you’ll manage. Maybe by focusing on the game instead of Mr. Kaspbrak.” She said, turning back around.

Richie huffed and went back to talking about the actual game but his eyes were constantly drawn back to Eddie. He had been the announcer for the Quidditch games for two years now, and it had given him plenty of chances to watch Eddie in action. The small boy could maneuver a broomstick better than anyone- another of Richie’s favorite things to comment on. If Richie wasn’t actually skilled at commentary, McGonagall would have forced him out after the first game, but he was good at keeping up with the the rapid movements, and people loved his comments, especially the inappropriate ones.

While Richie would quip about whoever was playing, Eddie was definitely his favorite person to comment on. He had been harboring a stupid crush on the boy for years, but never did anything other than use bad pick up lines, make inappropriate comments and wink at him. More than once Mike had mentioned that he may have a chance if he actually talked to Eddie but Richie shrugged off the advice. He preferred to admire him from afar- it was easier and, at this point, he had gotten used to Eddie’s rejection. The thought of actually trying to woo him seemed impossible.

“Anyway, now Bill from Gryffindor has batted away Eddie’s most recent attempt. You know Bill, you probably don’t have to beat alone, I’ve heard that Audra has her eye on-”

“MR. TOZIER.” McGonagall yelled again. Even from his place off the court, Richie could see Bill turn bright red. The other beater on the team, Bill’s brother Georgie, was clearly ribbing him. Georgie was laughing and waving mischievously at Audra, who was watching from the stands, decked out in Gryffindor colors. She gave Georgie a small wave back, before giggling and turning to her friends.

“Right right, sorry. Anyway.” Richie continued his commentary. “El has the quaffle, passes it to Nancy who tries to score but - OH SNAP! Excellent save by the gorgeous Beverly Marsh from Slytherin! You know, if she wasn’t dating the Hufflepuff hunk, Ben, I would have asked her out years ago...”

He trailed off, expecting to be yelled at again but McGonagall just shook her head. “She’s out of your league anyway.” Stan said from next to Richie. He was supporting Slytherin, wearing two tasteful green stripes of paint under his eyes. It was the exact opposite of Mike’s outfit. He was supporting Gryffindor, and was decked out in a red and gold outfit that occasionally produced small fireworks. Stan had to keep leaning away to avoid the sparks.

House rivalries still existed, and would probably always exist, but things had gotten better since the Battle of Hogwarts. The other houses supported Slytherin more, though many were still wary of them, and it wasn’t uncommon for people to come dressed in other house’s colors for games. Stan liked to tell people at least once a semester that he was jumping ship to Slytherin just to avoid smelling Richie’s dirty socks.

Richie opened his mouth to retort but was distracted as Eddie scored another goal and the crowd cheered loudly. “He’s at it again! My Eds, scoring on and off the field. Well, he _could_ score. Look me up Eddie, I’m available. With that, Slytherin pulls ahead, 100 to 50. Lucas, now would be the time to find that snitch! But don’t worry, everyone is distracted by cutey- Eddie Spaghetti. Has everyone noticed how well that uniform fits him?” He must have been wearing McGonagall down because she allowed him to keep talking. “Seriously, he can Slytherin to my bed anytime.” He said, adding an obnoxious wink, even though he knew Eddie couldn’t see him.

He heard Stan’s exasperated sigh from besides him and saw Eddie turn and glare at him, making a rude gesture. “Yes! That’s exactly what I’m proposing Eddie! Anyway back to the game, it looks like Slytherin is about to score on Gryffindor again- oh no! Georgie stops the Quaffle just in time! He’s not just the kid brother everyone! He has some chops!” Georgie did a celebratory lap around the pitch, waving at fans and smiling. Bill just rolled his eyes and called him back, telling him to get his head in the game.

“And Max scores on Nancy by using some fancy broomwork! That training camp really paid off for her! We could use some lessons on fancy broomwork in the dorms. You should hear some of these kids, trying to polish their broom. It’s embarrassing folks, this is why we need the internet.”

The commentary continued, with minimal sighs and yelling from McGonagall. She generally trusted Stan to stop Richie, knowing that he would put a stop to things before they got too inappropriate, but today Stan was more focused on Mike, arguing with him about who had the better strategy for the game, so it was on her to reign Richie in.

Richie was convinced that that was half the reason Stan was made a prefect, so he would have some authority over Richie. Not that it worked. Richie’s reputation around the school for being a trashmouth was well known. It had been solidified during his third year when Henry and his band of thugs cast a spell on him to make actual trash come out of his mouth whenever he spoke. He nearly filled up the room before a professor cast the counter spell.

The rest of his reputation was less deserved. He was known for being discovered in closets with various members of the same and opposite sex. Only Stan and Mike really knew that it was largely an exaggeration. Even in the wizarding world people tended to assume that bisexuals were more likely to cheat and fool around. Richie had dated people, sure, but never anything serious. And all those rumors about him in the Room of Requirement were greatly exaggerated.

But he didn’t see the point in correcting them. People had already decided who he was by now- a prankster, the Ravenclaw joke, someone who got around. And Richie never wanted to disappoint his adoring fans. He made a point to respond to the rumors with a wink and a nudge, never quite agreeing but also not disputing. And that was mostly fine, even if it had ruined his chances with Eddie. But, he reminded himself, it had been a small chance to start with.

“And with that the game is over as the snitch is caught by Lucas! Looks like Slytherin is the champion! That’s all for today. And remember kids, as the great Bob Barker always said- remember to spay and neuter your pets!”

Stan looked at Richie, brows knit. “Was Bob Barker some sort of dog human hybrid?”

Richie and Mike laughed. As much as Richie loved the wizarding world and all its charm sometimes he missed the muggle world. He was grateful to have Mike around, someone else who understood at least most of his references. His mom was a witch but his dad was a muggle so they lived in the muggle portion of London.

“Yes Stan, that’s exactly what he was.” Richie said, throwing an arm over him. “Used to travel around with circus’, trying to get people to neuter their pets so no other monstrosities like him were born.”

Stan nodded solemnly. “That makes sense.”

Mike started to explain but Richie shook his head. It was only a matter of time until Stan realized he was joking. “Let’s get to that Slytherin party, before all the butterbeer is gone.” The winner’s parties were open to all the houses, as long as you could convince someone from the house to let you in. Luckily, Mike was close with one of the younger Slytherins after he had helped her with her detention in the greenhouse, so they could always count on her.

-

**Eddie**

“Richie is being overly insistent today.” Beverly said to Eddie, stopping next to him mid-air, twirling her Beater’s bat in one hand.  

“How does he get more annoying every year?” Eddie wondered out loud, rolling his eyes. “I don’t understand why McGonagall still lets him be the announcer.”

“Because he is funny.” Bev said, shrugging.

“He is not. You say that because you get a harmless compliment here and there. I, on the other hand, get horrible nicknames and inappropriate comments and- Bev!” Eddie interrupted his own rambling when he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye and alerted Beverly, just in time for her to turn and strike the Bludger heading their way, sending it flying in the other direction.

Afterwards, Beverly resumed their conversation as if they just hadn’t almost been knocked over a second ago. “It’s called flirting, Eddie. You should try it sometime. Or better yet, take Richie up on what he’s offering.” She said with a wink, flying away before Eddie could tell her just how much he didn’t want to do that.

The truth was that if Richie’s reputation didn’t precede him, Eddie might have considered it. The first time he had seen Richie he had thought he was cute, with his goofy grin and thick glasses and the way he knitted his eyebrows and scrunched up his nose when Hagrid brought out the Flobberworm they would be studying in their first Care of Magical Creatures class, right before he grabbed it, stuck it up his nose and pretended it was a booger, much to his classmates’ and Hagrid’s amusement.

But the more he saw of him, the more Eddie convinced himself that Richie didn’t take things seriously. He would show up late to class, never take notes and spend his time trying to distract his friend, Stanley, by whispering jokes in his ear, though Eddie didn’t think Richie understood what whispering meant, since he could always hear what he was saying.

Then there were the rumours of his conquests and escapades with numerous other students. Eddie didn’t want to be just one of those.

Around the school, it wasn’t a secret that Eddie was attracted to boys, even if in all of his years at Hogwarts he had never dated anyone. He had had crushes, the more durable one was his crush on Ezra Barebone **,** who had been in his fifth year at Hogwarts when Eddie entered and now was the lead vocalist of one of the most famous bands in the wizarding world, who’s poster Eddie bought on one of his trips to Hogsmeade, something Bev and Ben would often tease him about.

There had been other crushes, but that’s all they had been. Eddie had decided from the beginning that if he was going to date someone, he had to be worth the trouble. Someone with real feelings towards him, someone who wasn’t just trying to mess around, someone who took things seriously.

Definitely not Richie, who treated everything like a joke.

Which was why all the flirting and the innuendos bothered him. They meant nothing to Richie, but that didn’t stop the fluttery feeling in Eddie’s stomach whenever he heard them.

“Kaspbrak!”

Eddie snapped out of his internal conflict when he heard Max calling out his name. Only his fast reflexes allowed him to catch the Quaffle she had thrown his way. Once he had it, he leaned forward on his broom and sped past every Gryffindor player that tried to get in his way. The Gryffindor Keeper didn’t even have time to react before Eddie was throwing the Quaffle towards the goalpoast and scoring ten more points for Slytherin.

The people on the stands erupted into cheers and applause. Over the noise Eddie heard Richie make yet another comment and he turned towards him and glared, throwing a rude gesture his way for good measure, but Richie just laughed and continued his commentary, unbothered by Eddie’s reaction.

Gryffindor managed to score some points before Lucas finally caught the Snitch making Slytherin the winner of the game. Eddie high-fived Max before lowering himself to the ground where the rest of the team was already hugging and clapping their Seeker in the back. The Gryffindor team approached not long after to congratulate them. It didn’t cease to amaze Eddie how house rivalries were now just something from the past, sure there was still a sense of competitiveness over Quidditch games and the House Cup but aside from that and a few people, the different houses got along well.

“Nice game, Eddie.”

He turned around to find Bill Denbrough smiling at him. They had played countless of games against each other but didn’t talk much outside the pitch, still Eddie thought Bill was nice, so he smiled back. “You too, Bill. Will I be seeing you at the party?”

“That depends. Are you letting the guy who threw a Bludger at you in your Common Room?” Bill said, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment.

Eddie chuckled and shrugged. “Getting hit by a Bludger wouldn’t be the worst thing that happened to me while playing Quidditch.”

When Eddie was a third-year, they had been playing against Gryffindor and one of their Chasers, a seventh-year under the surname Hargrove had collided against Eddie and thrown him off his broom and into the floor, the fall breaking his arm. He remembered little of it, just waking up to the sound of Madame Pomfrey casting _Brackium Emendo_ and the pain of his broken bones mending themselves. Eddie flinched at the memory.

“That’s the game, I guess. I’ll see you at the party then.” Bill said, waving at him. Then he stared at a spot over Eddie’s shoulders. “Hi, Beverly.”

Eddie turned around to find Bev walking towards them. “Hi, Billy.” She said, and when Bill walked away, she turned to Eddie and smirked. “We are fucking awesome.”

“Fucking right we are, the Quidditch Cup is ours this year.” Eddie said, and knocked their brooms together, like they did before and after every game since second year.

Bev nodded and threw an arm around Eddie’s shoulders and started dragging him towards the changing rooms. “Come on, Eddie, we have a party to attend.”

-

Seeing as their Common Room was located in the Dungeons, it came as no surprise to Eddie how cold it got at night. Even with a fire crackling and dozens of people lounging in chairs and sofas, Eddie hadn’t been able to get warm since he got there after the game, even if he was wearing his coziest clothes. Beverly and him sat together near the tall glass windows drinking butterbeer and watching students from other houses get excited when the giant squid would swim past the glass.

Bev had just excused herself to go meet Ben, who had just arrived with a few other Hufflepuffs, when someone approached Eddie.

“If it isn’t my favorite Slytherin.”

The voice made Eddie flinch and he looked up to find Richie Tozier standing over him, a smirk on his face.

“If it isn’t my _least_ favorite Ravenclaw.” Eddie said, rolling his eyes. “Who let you in?”

“You know, charm will get you anywhere.” Richie said, shrugging.

Eddie snorted. “You’re as charming as a Flesh-Eating Slug, Richie.”

“Oh, I’ll eat some of your flesh.” Richie smirked with a waggle of his eyebrows.

Eddie scrunched up his nose in disgust but Richie’s smile didn’t even falter, he pointed at the empty space next to Eddie where Beverly had been sitting a couple of minutes ago.

“Do you mind if I... Slytherin?” Richie asked with a wink towards Eddie. Both of them were equally surprised when Eddie let out a chuckle.

Richie’s face lit up in amusement and taking the laugh as an answer, he sat down next to Eddie or more like, sprawled on the space next to him, spreading his long legs open and throwing an arm around him on the sofa.

“You know, that seat was taken.”

“Was it? Would you rather I sit on your lap then, Eddie my love?” Richie asked, faking innocence.

Eddie narrowed his eyes at him, both at the question and the name. He had long ago stopped asking Richie not to call him that or any of his other nicknames, it was pointless since he never listened. Instead of answering the question, Eddie made one of his own.

“Why are you even here, Richie?”

“Celebrating a fucking amazing win for Slytherin, of course.” Richie said.

“I meant, here with me.” Eddie clarified. “I’m sure your friends are here somewhere. It would explain how you got in.”

“I’m wounded, Eds. Are we not friends?” Richie asked, with mock offense. When Eddie stared blankly at him and didn’t answer, he continued. “I wanted to congratulate you, you were great out there.”

Eddie’s eyebrows creased and he stared at Richie as if expecting one of his idiotic lines to follow what couldn’t possibly be a genuine compliment. When Richie stayed silent, Eddie actually gasped.

“ _Oh_. Thank you.” Eddie whispered, not knowing how to react. Richie smiled at him, an actual smile, not his usual playful smirk. Eddie felt his stomach flutter at such a rare sight and he offered a smile in response.

“You are a great player, Eds.” Richie whispered and he leaned towards Eddie, trapping him between his body and the arm of the couch. He tucked a strand of Eddie’s hair behind his ear with the arm that wasn’t thrown around his shoulders. Eddie’s eyes widened at the touch and Richie’s closeness and he felt his ears heat up, undoubtedly turning bright red. A glint appeared in Richie’s eyes when he noticed. “You are so fast and so graceful and the way you handle a broom…” He trailed off and Eddie noticed then that their faces were so close together that he was going cross-eyed staring at Richie. He took a shuddering breath, trying to come up with something to say, but Richie beat him to it. “I have another piece of wood right here for you to handle.”

Eddie’s reaction was instantaneous. He scowled at Richie and harshly pushed him away, while the other just laughed at him. This -Richie’s idiocy and lack of seriousness- Eddie was used to, but that didn’t mean he liked it, in fact he hated it. But what he hated even more was the fact that less than a minute ago, he had been caught up in Richie’s words and touches and enjoying the closeness between the two.

He was readying himself to stand up and go lock himself in his dormitory where Richie wouldn’t be able to follow, when Bev joined them. She took the seat on Richie’s other side and based on the smug grin she offered Eddie, it was clear she had witnessed their recent exchange.

Richie, who was sitting with his body facing Eddie, turned around when he felt Beverly sit down.

“Bev, darling!” Richie exclaimed, offering her a charming smile. “Did you finally decide to leave Ben and confess your undying love for me?”

Bev scoffed and rolled her eyes, but the corners of her mouth curled up in a smile. “In your dreams, Tozier.”

“Oh, every night, Bev, every night.” Richie said making Beverly laugh.

Eddie watched the exchange with his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl still on his face. Part of him knew his bad mood was because of Richie’s annoying trick earlier but the other part, the one he refused to acknowledge, was scowling at how fast Richie’s attention (and his flirting attempts) had shifted from Eddie to Beverly, supporting Eddie's theory that this was all a game to him.

Much to Eddie’s annoyance Beverly noticed and smiled knowingly at him before asking. “What were you two up to?”

Before Richie could come up with something embarrassing to say, Eddie spoke. “Nothing. Richie is just being annoying.”

“Oh, so the usual then?” Bev snorted.

“I was just congratulating Eds on his broom handling skills.” Richie said, throwing a wink at Eddie who against his wishes, felt himself starting to blush. “But they’re nothing compared to the way you handle a bat, miss Marsh. Hanscom is one lucky man.”

Again, Bev rolled her eyes but there was no heat behind her reply. “Richie Tozier you make the Cruciatus curse seem like a fucking tickling spell.”

Richie joined in her laughter and Eddie felt his jaw tighten at how easy Richie forgot he was there.

He groaned and stood up. “I’m going to get more butterbeer.” He muttered and left before Richie could say anything. Bev stared at him as he left and he knew she would bring up his foul mood (and the reason behind it) later when it was just the two of them. Eddie couldn’t _wait_ to deal with that.

He made his way to where the butterbeer barrels, which would magically refill themselves once they were empty, were, only to find Ben Hanscom standing close by. His friend smiled warmly at him when he approached and Eddie couldn’t help but smile back, Ben had that effect on people.

“Hello, Eddie! That was a great game today!” Ben said, affectionately patting Eddie in the back while he poured the drink on his cup.

“Thanks, Ben! I saw your outfit for the game. You went all out today, didn’t you?”

“Was it too much?” Ben asked, looking genuinely worried. “I told Mike the green and silver fireworks might have been too much, but he did the same to his Gryffindor outfit.”

“The fireworks were a great detail, don’t worry.” Eddie assured him. In that moment someone bumped into his back, making him spill some butterbeer on the floor. He turned around expecting to find some over excited first year apologizing to him, but seeing Henry Bowers instead.

“Out of my way, Kaspbrak. Just because you won today doesn’t mean you’re some kind of untouchable celebrity.” He growled.

Eddie rolled his eyes and pointedly stayed where he was. “Just because you got kicked out of the Quidditch team doesn’t mean you can go around pushing me just because you’re jealous.”

Henry’s expression darkened and Eddie could tell that even if it had been a year, his expulsion from the team was still a sore subject. Eddie smiled smugly at him, but said smile was erased from his face the moment Henry spoke again.

“I’m still surprised you even know how to ride a broom, Kaspbrak, after what happened to your father, I figured your mother would never let you anywhere near one.”

The words made Eddie drop the cup he had been holding, spilling the liquid on the floor around him. His hands curled into fists at his sides but before he could even raise them, Ben’s strong hand wrapped around his arm, stopping him. He looked up and found his friend shaking his head at him.

Henry noticed the exchange and laughed. “What are you going to do, Kaspbrak? Punch me? The fact that you didn’t even reach for your wand shows you’re not a true wizard. Do us all a favor and go live your life as a pathetic muggle.”

And with that, Henry turned around and walked away.

Eddie glared at his back, actually considering going after him and doing _something_ but Ben’s grip held him back. He noticed a small crowd had gathered around them, mostly curious younger students but he could also see Beverly and Richie staring at him from the side.

“Are you okay, Eddie?” Ben asked, clearly concerned.

Eddie offered him a weak smile and a nod, before shaking his arm free from his grip. “I’m fine, Ben.” He said, then he turned around and headed for the Common Room entrance.

He could hear both Ben and Beverly calling his name but he ignored them. Whether they were following him or not, Eddie didn’t know but he didn’t stop walking until he reached the Entrance Hall.

There, the Goblet of Fire stood on a pedestal surrounded by the Age Line that Professor McGonagall had placed there, so that no one under the age of sixteen could approach the goblet.

Even though Eddie’s determination that he had expressed on the Start-of-Term Feast hadn’t disappeared, he still hadn’t placed his name in the goblet yet, mostly because he liked to think things through before doing them, specially those that might end with him being put in danger. But his encounter with Bowers had ignited in him the final spark of resolve that he needed. He would show him, show all of them, that he was a wizard. A great wizard. Just like his father had been before he died. And just like his mother had been a good witch before the circumstances led her to fear magic.

With his mind made up, Eddie conjured a piece of parchment with his name neatly written on it and stepped over the age line. Then, without a second thought, he dropped it on the blue-white flames of the Goblet of Fire.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The doors of the Great Hall opened and Argus Filch entered, heading straight for the staff table. Once there, he whispered something to Professor McGonagall, before leaving the same way he had come. The Headmistress stood and approached the lectern, attracting everyone’s attention.  
> “Good evening, students. As you all know, tonight we are being joined by some very special guests. I’ve been informed they’re finally here, so, with no further preambule, I present to you, our fellow witches and wizards of Castelobruxo and their Headmistress, Professor Isadora Viera, as well as the students from Ilvermorny and their Headmaster, Professor Pezi Jones.”

**Eddie**

“This is taking too long!” Eddie said, bouncing his leg under the table. “I could be working on my essay about Everlasting Elixirs for Potions class right now. It’s due on Monday and I’m not even halfway done.”

Bev shrugged. “You were the one who chose to advance to N.E.W.T-level potions class.” She said, tapping her nails on the table. She was also impatient, not because she wanted to go back to her dormitory to work on some essay, but because she was hungry and having to wait for her dinner irritated her.

“I didn’t expect there to be so many essays! Just last week we had to do one on Poison antidotes.” Eddie groaned.

Beverly smirked. “I know _someone_ you could ask for help…”

Eddie rolled his eyes. “Bev, don’t start.”

“I’m just saying, Richie is fucking brilliant in Potions.” Beverly said, shrugging. “And I know that he would be _thrilled_ to help you.”

“I don’t need nor want his help.”

“Suit yourself, Eddie. You’re the one who will spend his Halloween writing an essay for Slughorn.” Bev said.

The mention of Halloween reminded Eddie of the Feast that was taking place tomorrow, but more importantly of what would be happening after the feast, which was, the choosing of the champions that would be entering the Triwizard Tournament.

Now that they were sixth year students they were supposed to have little free time in between all the classes and assignments and Eddie should have no time to think about the Tournament and the arrival of the delegations from the other schools that would be happening that night, but ever since he had placed his name in the Goblet of Fire, those had been the only things in his mind.

He didn’t regret his decision or wished he wouldn’t be chosen, but he couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if he was, who would he have to team with? What would the tasks be like? Would he win? Get hurt? Die? Eddie knew there was no point in worrying now, it was up to the Goblet of Fire and there was nothing he or anyone else could do.

Instead, Eddie had tried to focus on the arrival of the students from the other schools. He had never been to either North or South America nor had he ever met anyone from there and it excited him that this year, he would.

Eddie wasn’t the only one. Ben Hanscom had spent the past two months balancing his time between doing his actual school work and reading every book he could find in the library about Ilvermorny and Castelobruxo. Then, when Ben would join him and Bev for their trips to Hogsmeade or their late study nights, he would tell them both about all he had learned. Which is how Eddie had come to know a lot about both schools. He knew Ilvermorny had been co-founded by a muggle, or No-Maj, like the Americans called them and that it was the youngest known wizarding school. He also knew that Castelobruxo was located amid the Amazon rainforest and that due to that, their students were especially advanced in Herbology and Magizoology. Ben had said his friend, Mike Hanlon, was especially excited to meet them and discuss plants with them.

Thinking of plants made Eddie think of nettle, one of the ingredients used in the preparation of Everlasting Elixirs, which again reminded him he should be working on that essay right now.

But before he could complain some more about it to Beverly, the doors of the Great Hall opened and Argus Filch entered, heading straight for the staff table. Once there, he whispered something to Professor McGonagall, before leaving the same way he had come.

The Headmistress stood and approached the lectern, attracting everyone’s attention.

“Good evening, students. As you all know, tonight we are being joined by some very special guests. I’ve been informed they’re finally here, so, with no further preambule, I present to you, our fellow witches and wizards of Castelobruxo and their Headmistress, Professor Isadora Viera, as well as the students from Ilvermorny and their Headmaster, Professor Pezi Jones.”

As soon as she stopped talking, the doors opened again and a dozen colorful birds bursted into the room.

Eddie gasped when he saw them and stared, awed, as they flew around the room, singing to the same tune, while the light from the candles that hung from the ceiling reflected on their feathers and made them look like they were a hundred different colors at once, it was beautiful.

A group of around twenty students wearing bright green robes walked in then, being led by their Headmistress. She was a tall, dark-skinned woman with long ebony hair, adorned with numerous flowers. She wore a colorful dress, its design similar to the tail feathers of a peacock, and she carried herself with elegance while smiling gently at the students she would walk by.

Eddie’s attention turned to the people that were following her and he noticed the birds had stopped flying and were posed on the students’ shoulders. They all wore the same uniform, which consisted of bright green robes thrown over white shirts, beige breeches and brown boots as well as big smiles as they admired the Great Hall with its thousands floating candles, magical ceiling and big glass windows.

When they passed right in front of Eddie, he caught sight of the last two students, a boy and a girl. They were whispering to each other as they pointed to the ceiling and Eddie noticed that they looked very much alike, so much they had to be twins. They had the same green eyes, that were accentuated by the green of their robes, the same tanned skin, adorned with countless freckles, the same straw-colored hair, tied up in a messy bun for the boy and held back by a green headband for the girl. They even had the same smile in their faces.

The group made it to the front of the room and stood there as Professor McGonagall and Professor Viera exchanged pleasantries. Eddie saw their Headmistress take a flower from her hair and offer it to McGonagall, who accepted it with a polite smile before addressing her own students.

“Please, give a warm welcome to the delegation of Castelobruxo!” She said and applauded, immediately being joined by the students and professors of Hogwarts.

Professor Viera and her students smiled at the crowd and when the applause died down, she spoke.

“Thank you Minerva and thank you, students. It is an honor for all of us to be here!” She had a sweet melodic voice and an accent Eddie had never heard before but decided he enjoyed listening to. “This tournament will be an unforgettable experience, I know it. Good luck! _Buena suerte_! _Boa sorte_!”

The moment she finished speaking, her students cheered and raised their wands, and the birds took flight again and sang, amidst red and green sparks.

Eddie was mesmerized and he joined the rest of the Hogwarts students as they applauded and cheered as well. He locked eyes with Beverly, who looked as excited as he was, dinner and school work the last thing in their minds. Eddie smiled at her and marveled at the fact that, even if he had witnessed magic his entire life, something like this could still excite him.

Whether he was chosen as a champion or not, he knew this would be one of his favorite years at Hogwarts.

**-**

**Richie**

Richie watched as the students from Castelobruxo sat at a table that McGonagall had created for them. The excited whispering had just died down when the doors opened again. Richie craned his neck to see the new students from the other school.

The students from Ilvermorny entered slowly, in a two by two line, wearing blue or cranberry robes with black waistcoats and brown breeches underneath. They were lead by an older, stoic man who Richie knew was Pezi Jones, the Headmaster. He was wearing blue robes with cranberry trim and Richie was both in awe and a little scared of him, especially because he was aware of the man’s reputation.

Flitwick had called a Ravenclaw house meeting to educate them on the new schools, insisting that they be aware of their customs and specialties. He had explained that the American school had a strong Native American influence, the current Headmaster was part of a long line of Native American headmasters.

He also said that recently some American wizards had tried to overhaul the school’s custom of allowing anyone to study there. Ilvermorny was the most democratic of all the wizarding schools, known for admitting anyone who showed magical talent. Because of this, they had many international students who had been rejected from other schools. Some of the parents wanted Ilvermorny to be more like the schools in Europe and have a selection process. Pezi had refused, fighting for the right for anyone to enter his school. It had been a long battle but he won, gaining the respect of many and the hate of some.

Seeing the man in person, Richie could understand why people found him intimidating. A tall man, at least 6’6 and built like a rugby player, he commanded the whole room as he walked. But then Richie saw a grin crack on his serious face.

Before Richie could turn to Stan to ask if he saw it too, he was transported to another place. It was like he had touched a portkey. He looked around wildly, trying to figure out what had happened. He could still see the tables, and the other Hogwarts students. But as he looked around he saw that he was outside, surrounded by pine trees, and could almost smell the ocean. In front of him was another school, covered in creeping vines and with large windows, it was newer and less grand than Hogwarts but had its own charm.

He scanned the scene, trying to take everything in. He could see students walking around with twigs, bent over and focused, as if trying to solve a puzzle. He walked closer, wanting to see what they were doing. Other Hogwarts students were doing the same thing, trying to touch the trees and walking towards the castle. As he wandered, Richie could hear people speaking in American accents, discussing their latest class and an upcoming trip to somewhere called ‘Boston’. He was utterly entranced by everything, the other school and its students. He loved it.

Just as abruptly, he was back in the Great Hall at Hogwarts. He whipped his head, seeing that everyone else was as bewildered as him. He made his way back to his seat as Pezi spoke.

“We thought, Headmistress, that we would show you our school, since you were kind enough to invite us to yours.” Pezi spoke in a booming voice. “We are not so secretive as others when it comes to our location and appearance.”

“We appreciate your sharing of knowledge.” McGonagall said with a warm smile.

Richie understood the twigs then. Ilvermorny was known for several subjects, including Xylomancy, a form of divination that relied upon twigs. It was one of the less popular branches of divination and Ilvermorny was one of the few places where people could learn it. Richie didn’t understand the subject, but knew it involved letting sticks tell you the future.

“It was a wordless spell.” Stan said in awe, still looking around like he was trying to seal the image in his memory.

Richie nodded. He hadn’t realized until Stan said it but he remembered that the school was based largely on wordless spells because of their history of prosecution. Something about the Salem Witch Trials. Richie had zoned out by then in Flitwick’s speech. Knowing it was a wordless made the spell he had just witnessed even more impressive.

Richie turned his attention to the students that followed Pezi, watching as the group walked to the front of the hall. Two girls who were holding hands caught his eye. He could tell they were a couple- they were bent together, talking and clearly comfortable with each other. One had cropped blonde hair and was looking around, pointing excitedly at everything. The other had almond shaped eyes and long back hair and was smiling and nodding at the first.  Richie watched them, feeling a quick pange of jealousy at their happiness and ease with each other.

The group sat as another table materialized and McGonagall stood. “Warm welcomes to our visiting schools. We couldn’t be more pleased to have you here and to be competing with you during the Triwizard Tournament.  While the shadow of the last tournament still hangs over us, we hope that this will be a chance to form new relationships and to learn more about each other.” She turned to the other Headmaster and Headmistress. “Would either of you like to speak?”

Richie tuned out as the two spoke of excitement and togetherness. He didn’t care about that. He glanced over at the Hufflepuff table, thinking about the last tournament and how it ended.

The shadow of Cedric’s death still hung over the school in general, but for them especially. Several students had complained about the school holding the tournament again but McGonagall had insisted that this time it would be different, Voldemort had been defeated for over ten years and the remaining Death Eaters had been found and sent to Azkaban. There was no risk, she told everyone, many precautions were being taken to keep students safe.

But Richie knew that the Hufflepuffs still worried. The phrase ‘kill the spare’ was still occasionally found on their walls, painted there with glowing magic. Mike talked about it sometimes, how the house felt like the least valued and most ignored. They worried that, if a Hufflepuff was chosen, the same thing would happen again- or that they would be ignored in favor of the other house that was elected.

It had lead to fewer Hufflepuff students putting their names in the goblet for tomorrow’s drawing. When Richie and Stan had entered Mike had come with, standing behind the age line and watching them. Stan had tried to convince Mike to enter but he had just shaken his head, refusing.

“I don’t need to do it. I don’t want glory, I don’t need the money. I’m not entering.” Mike had said, crossing his arms. “But I’ll support the hell out of you two winning this. Take Gryffindor down a peg.”

“Hell yes!” Richie had said, jumping and trying to watch as his slit of paper settled into the goblet and seeing a small poof as the goblet accepted it.

Richie was drawn back to the feast as he saw two more people slip onto the stage. An unnatural hush fell over the school when everyone realized who they were. One was Percy Weasley, the head of the Department of Magical Transportation, brother to Ron Weasley. Even without his brothers name, he was famous on his own, known for fighting in the Battle of Hogwarts and for all the work he did after to help repair relations among the wizards.

But his presence was overshadowed by the other person. Richie gaped as she walked onstage, her thick black hair curled over her shoulders elegantly as she flashed a smile at the students, giving them a slightly over excited wave. One of the golden trio. Hero of Hogwarts. Deputy Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The infamous Hermione Granger.

“Hello to both.” McGonagall said, smiling at them. “Not that this pair needs an introduction, but I’d like everyone to give a warm round of applause to our other two judges for the tournament. Percy Weasley and Hermione Granger-Weasley who will be joining us as guest judges for each of the tasks, along with the Headmasters from the other schools.”

Whispers broke out again and McGonagall allowed it to happen. Richie leaned over to Stan and Dustin, another Ravenclaw in their year. “Hermione fucking Granger? I would think she would hate this.”

Stan nodded, still staring at her. Hermione was greeting the professors warmly, laughing at something Slughorn said. Most students seemed to be in disbelief that she was there and that she would be around for the rest of the tasks. It was overwhelming.

“She might.” Dustin replied. Stan wasn’t listening, completely entranced by Hermione. Richie reminded himself to tease him later. Stan used to have a poster of Hermione waving excitedly, above his bed, insisting that it was only because he admired her. ‘I know what parts of her you admire’ Richie would say, waggling his eyebrows. Stan would flush and hit him.  

“Maybe she’s here to oversee it,” Dustin continued. “To make sure nothing bad happens this time. Percy’s boss was a judge last time, he might be here for the same reason.”

Richie nodded, feeling even more excited about the drawing tomorrow. He and Stan were the perfect team and if they were chosen, he might even get to meet Hermione Granger. He wasn’t as excited about that as he knew Stan was but it would still be amazing, and something to brag about in the dorms. He knew a few other people had entered- Henry and his friends, Bill and Audra- but he felt sure that the goblet would choose them. They had the right combination of brains and moxy. That, plus the general knowledge of the Ravenclaw house, meant that they had it in the bag. He was nearly vibrating in his seat from the excitement of it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Baby Stan totally had a crush on Hermione, pre-Mike. (‘She’s just so, organized’ He sighs).
> 
> Also, this is set before the Potter/Granger/Weasley spawn starts at Hogwarts, if you’re wondering where they were.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Our second Hogwarts champion, and the last to join this Tournament contestants, is Richie Tozier!”
> 
> The moment he heard the name, Eddie felt his heart drop and a weight settle in the pit of his stomach. “No way, no fucking way.” He muttered under his breath. Forget Henry Bowers or Gretta Bowie, he was now stuck with Richie fucking Tozier out of all people. He saw Beverly give him a sympathetic smile, but Eddie wasn’t buying it. She was enjoying this, if the glint in her eye was anything to go by.

**Richie**

“Why are you dressed as a cat?” Mike asked, falling to the seat next to Stan. It was the Halloween feast, normally one of Richie’s favorites but today it was overshadowed by the name drawing. For the less formal feasts students moved around, sitting by friends from other houses.

“I’m McGonagall.” Richie said with a grin, gesturing down to his cat suit, complete with a tail and cat ears. “Meow.” He added with a flourish, making his hand into a paw and preening. 

Stan groaned, his head falling to the table. “I hate you.” He muttered. “We’re going to get expelled and be forced have to live in Muggle London and I’ll have to be an accountant or something awful.” Stan didn’t know many muggle jobs and Richie had convinced him years ago that accountants had to sit in a room alone and count all the change that people lost on the the tube. 

Mike laughed and rubbed Stan’s back. Richie watched as Stan stiffened at the touch and then relaxed, clearly enjoying it. “McGonagall will think it’s hilarious. Don’t worry.” He looked at Richie, smiling. “It’s an improvement over last years’ costume anyway.” 

Richie smirked. “Hey, I think I pulled off the great Harry Potter very well.” 

“Except that the scar you magicked on your forehead kept changing into dirty messages.”

Richie grinned. “Yeah, that was on purpose.” Richie dressed up for Halloween everyone year, even though it wasn’t normal in the wizarding world. On his first year, he had dressed up as robot and was shocked when he entered the Great Hall and found that no one else had dressed up. 

All the heads had turned to him, staring, and Stan had rushed over to him, quietly asking, “Is this another strange muggle tradition? Are you in disguise? It’s not working, everyone knows it’s you.” 

Richie had gaped at him, then at everyone else. His 11 year old self was in shock that wizards, who could change their appearance to whatever they wanted, wouldn’t dress up for Halloween. They didn’t even carve pumpkins. Overall, wizarding Halloween had been incredibly disappointing. It seemed that they just ate. 

Richie had been teased all night, mostly by Henry and Greta, who asked him if he was a better robot than wizard. Richie had wanted to sink into the floor, but he had made jokes about it, refusing to let them know he was bothered. 

When Halloween rolled around during his second year, Richie dressed up again, managing to convince a few other muggle borns from Ravenclaw to also dress up. And now, in their sixth year, many of the other muggle borns would dress up too. Richie still hadn’t been able to convince anyone who grew up in the wizarding world to dress up, they still didn’t understand the appeal. 

But the other muggle borns loved it. This year, Mike was dressed up as a mandrake, complete with a pot around his waist. They tried to use minimal magic for the costumes, buying fabric and gluing cloth pieces together instead. Again, those who were raised in the wizarding world thought they were crazy, when they showed up to class with glue gun burns or bits of feathers in their hair, but Richie loved it. He loved the wizarding world but sometimes missed muggle things and this reminded him of home. 

The students from the other schools were delighted by the costumes. The girls from Ilvermorny that Richie had noticed yesterday came over to him, one excitedly chatting about his costume and how everyone in America dressed up for the holiday while the other smiled happily. Richie listened eagerly as they talked about games and haunted houses. 

He learned that their names were Michelle and Samantha and that both were seventh years in their school. Both entered the tournament, hoping to win and start a small shop together in the wizarding part of New York.  He liked them immensely and hoped they were picked. 

“Richie, just please don’t tell McGonagall that you’re dressed as her.” Stan pleaded, interrupting his thoughts. 

“Staniel, are you asking me not to make a scene?” 

Stan was about to answer when McGonagall stood, preparing to give a speech. “Welcome to old and new friends. We’re thrilled to celebrate Halloween with so many different people tonight. And, after the meal, we will be drawing the names of our champions, who I will ask to please come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table and go into the next chamber.” McGonagall gestured to her right. “Where they will be receiving their first instructions. But for now, please eat!” As she finished speaking the tables filled with food and Richie turned to it, diving in enthusiastically. 

“Who do you think it’ll be?” Stan asked, carefully adding some shepards pie to his plate. 

“Probably Bill and Audra.” Mike said, glancing at the pair. “The public loves an almost couple that they can get behind. And those two would be great representatives for Hogwarts.”

“Hey!” Richie cried, pointing at Mike and accidentally flinging some potatoes. “Stan and I would be the team of the century, everyone would cheer us on!”

“They would be praying that you got hit with a silencing charm.” Stan said, wiping spud from his cheek. “Richie, be realistic. We’re not going to be picked. It’ll probably be Ben and Bev, the interhouse golden couple.” 

Richie pouted, looking at the two. Bev was at Ben’s table, leaning casually into him. He had to admit, they were adorable. “It doesn’t have to be a couple.” He said stubbornly, “It could be anyone.” 

Both Stan and Mike gave him a small shrug, turning to their food and ending the conversation. Richie knew they were probably right, people wanted to be able to cheer the contestants on and a couple would be a smart choice for the goblet- they’d work together well and would look great for cameras. But he was still hoping that his and Stan’s names would be pulled, he knew he wanted this more than Bill or Ben did. 

But he let it go, listening as Stan and Mike discussed NEWT classes. All three were in Transfiguration together and they had an exam next week. They all also took Herbology together, mostly relying on Mike to get them through. Richie was also in Care of Magical Creatures with Mike, a class Stan had opted out of as soon as he could. Additionally, he was taking Defense Against the Dark Arts with Stan and the Gryffindors and Potions with the Slytherins.   

He had done well enough on his OWLS to continue with any subject he pleased but had opted not to. He didn’t want a full schedule, he didn’t see the point. He was only taking the classes he wanted to. And the ones that would allow him to be a potioneer after graduation. It was a secret he held close to his chest, the hope of one day creating new potions. He had only told Stan, knowing that anyone else would make fun of him, like always. It was a meticulous job but he knew he could do it, potions made sense to him, laid out like a puzzle waiting to be solved. 

The feast wrapped up sooner than normal, everyone buzzing with excitement over the name drawings. “I believe it is time. I’ll begin with our guests. Please wait for the names of both of your champions before heading to the room.” McGonagall said as she stood, banishing the food as she walked over to the goblet. The flames had changed from a sparkling blue-white color to a deep red. Sparks began to fly from it and a charred piece of paper flew out. McGonagall caught it with ease, reading it before speaking it out loud. 

“The first champion for Ilvermorny is Michelle Johnson!” The Ilvermorny  table exploded as the blonde girl that Richie had spoken to stood, grinning broadly. 

Another piece of paper flew out. “And the second champion for Ilvermorny is Samantha Lawson!” Richie watched as Michelle’s girlfriend flew up and into her arms, both jumping and screaming. McGonagall smiled at them and waited until the room quieted down, then reminded them to exit to the room. They left, hand in hand. 

**Eddie**

“Please, stop.” Beverly muttered, lightly kicking Eddie’s leg where it was bouncing. It was a habit whenever he was nervous and seeing the first two girls being elected champions and knowing Hogwarts’ turn was coming soon, made him feel more anxious than he had ever been. 

“Sorry.” 

“You don’t have to worry, Eddie.” Ben told him. They were all sitting in the Hufflepuff table, Ben and Beverly next to each other, holding hands under the table while Eddie sat across from them. “The three of us are in this together, whether we are chosen or not.”

Beverly nodded at him, but not even her encouraging smile or Ben’s calming words were enough to ease his nerves, or his restlessness. He smiled apologetically to the Hufflepuff girl who sat next to him and who was probably tired of the way he kept rocking the bench they sat on. 

“Moving on to our second guest school.” McGonagall said, just as the flames of the goblet crackled and a new piece of paper flew into her hand. “The first champion for Castelobruxo is Marisa Flores!” 

Eddie scanned the table where the Castelobruxo students sat until his eyes settled on a girl, the one he had noticed the day before, with the green eyes and the freckles, staring at McGonagall in shock, while everyone around her clapped her back and cheered. Her twin brother sat next to her and he was cheering the loudest, looking proud of his sister. 

Before she could gather herself and stand up, there was already another piece of parchment in McGonagall’s hands. “And the second champion for Castelobruxo is Marcelo Flores!”

Now it was Marisa’s twin brother turn to look surprised while everyone celebrated. At the same time, the two of them turned to face each other, broad twin smiles appearing on their faces and they hugged each other. Then they made their way to the room where the girls from Ilvermorny would already be waiting. 

“And now, last but not least, let’s see who our own champions will be.” 

Ben gasped. “Oh, no. I feel like I’m going to be sick.” He said, his face contorted into one of terror. 

Eddie stared at him in disbelief. “What? You said there was no need to worry!”

“I was wrong!”

Beverly threw her arms around her boyfriend’s shoulders, trying to calm him down. She was acting as if she wasn’t nervous at all, but Eddie could tell, by the way her comforting smile didn’t reach her eyes and her eyebrows were creased in the middle, that she wasn’t as calmed as she tried to appear. 

But then again, when you’re about to find out if you were chosen to participate in a dangerous magical competition, Eddie couldn’t think of someone who wouldn’t be nervous. 

“Very well.” McGonagall said, retrieving the piece of parchment and reading it. “Our first Hogwarts champion is Eddie Kaspbrak!”

The moment Professor McGonagall said his name, Eddie gasped, frozen on the spot. He felt everyone turn and stare at him. Some cheered and smiled encouragely, while others glared at him, mainly Henry Bowers and his friends, all the way from the Slytherin table. He saw Ben clapping and Beverly practically climbing on top of the table to give him a hug. 

“By Merlin’s fucking beard, Eddie! You are a champion! You’re so fucking winning this thing!” Beverly said, right to his ear and it wasn’t until then, that everything registered in his mind. 

Eddie was a champion. He was in the Triwizard Tournament. He had a chance to win this. For real. 

A grin formed in Eddie’s face and he felt excitement running through his veins. He hugged Beverly back as best as he could in such an uncomfortable position and then stood up, waiting for McGonagall to announce who his partner would be. 

Eddie looked at Beverly and Ben. Nothing would make him happier than having either of them as his partner. Beverly with her quick-thinking and her strength, Ben with his vast knowledge of every subject, together they would win the tournament for sure. 

But there was also the chance that he was paired up with someone terrible and had to endure working with them for the duration of the tournament. The thought of Henry Bowers, Patrick Hockstetter or Gretta Bowie being chosen as the second champion made Eddie shudder.

The Goblet of Fire chose that exact moment to spit out the last piece of parchment, accompanied with bright red flames before extinguishing itself, having served its purpose. 

Eddie took a deep breath, as McGonagall’s eyes scanned the paper and then smiled at the crowd before announcing. “Our second Hogwarts champion, and the last to join this Tournament contestants, is Richie Tozier!”

The moment he heard the name, Eddie felt his heart drop and a weight settle in the pit of his stomach. “No way, no fucking way.” He muttered under his breath. Forget Henry Bowers or Gretta Bowie, he was now stuck with Richie fucking Tozier out of all people. He saw Beverly give him a sympathetic smile, but Eddie wasn’t buying it. She was enjoying this, if the glint in her eye was anything to go by. 

His eyes traveled to the Ravenclaw table, where Richie was squeezing his friend Stanley between him and Mike Hanlon as he hugged both of them at the same time. He had a crazed look on his face and a wild smile and he was… dressed as a cat? 

Eddie frowned and then Richie’s eyes met his, and his smiled turned devious. He whispered something to Stan and Mike, sloppily kissed Stan’s cheek and stood up. He gestured with his head towards the front of the room, where they were now supposed to go. 

With a final look at Bev and Ben, who offered encouraging smiles and thumbs up, Eddie made his way to the chamber on the right side of the room, while McGonagall resumed her speech. 

“Now that all the champions have been chosen, there is no going back. As of this moment… the Triwizard Tournament has begun!” 

McGonagall carried on with her speech, but Eddie tuned her out, he could always ask Beverly to fill him in later. As he and Richie approached the front of the room, he noticed that Richie was, in fact, wearing a cat costume, complete with cat ears and a tail. He looked absolutely ridiculous, if so a bit cute. But that was not the point right now. 

The point was, that he was his partner now. Richie Tozier, who every year would dress up in a costume more ridiculous than the last, who was grinning at him as if he just won a price, instead of a nonrefundable ticket to a deadly tournament and who probably entered the whole thing as part of some joke. Why the Goblet of Fire thought they would make a good team, he had no idea. 

But he had no choice but to work with Richie if he wanted to win this. It was either both or none of them and Eddie had promised himself that if chosen, he would do everything to show what he was capable of and apparently that included working with Richie Tozier. But as much as he was determined to try and make this go smoothly, he knew it would be difficult, mainly because Eddie’s short temper was one of his most known traits just as Richie’s ability to make him lose it, was one of his. 

Richie grinned at Eddie as he came to a stop in front of him. “I must have had some Felix Felicis tonight because I’m feeling bloody lucky right now.”

“And I must have fallen asleep, because this feels like a nightmare.”

Richie snorted and his nose, which was painted black to look like a cat’s nose, scrunched up in a way that Eddie found adorable. Not that he would ever utter those thoughts out loud. “More like a dream come true, Eds.” Richie replied. “I think this is the universe’s way of telling us something.”

“That there are worse punishments than being locked in Azkaban?” Eddie said, raising an skeptical eyebrow. 

“No, silly.” Richie said, rolling his eyes good-naturedly. “That you and I belong together, of course.”

Eddie felt his stomach flutter at Richie’s words. He grasped at the first question that came to his mind, trying to change the subject. “Why are you dressed as a cat?”

Richie’s eyes lit up. “I’m not just  _ any  _ cat, Eds. I’m Professor McGonagall.”

Caught off guard, Eddie let out a laugh as he stared at Richie’s costume again, wondering what McGonagall would think if she learned Richie was supposed to be dressed as her. “You will be in so much trouble if she finds out.”

“I think she would be flattered that she inspired my costume.” Richie said. “And let’s be real, Eds. I look purr-fect in it.” He added, striking an embarrassing pose. Eddie could hear the people leaving the Great Hall, now that the feast and the choosing were over. That meant Richie and him were supposed to be in the room with the other champions already.

“Come on.” Eddie said as he walked past his partner.

Richie followed him and easily caught up with Eddie, throwing an arm around his shoulders and tucking him against his side, as they both left the Great Hall together. 

-

They walked through the door and down the stairs until they arrived at a large room with high ceilings and showcases filled with several trophies and medals. The other four champions sat in front of the lit fireplace, their backs to the entrance. The two girls from Ilvermorny sat in the loveseat, holding hands and with their heads bent together, whispering. The twins from Castelobruxo were sitting in the floor and they were staring at the flames in silence. 

When the gate that guarded the entrance opened so that Richie and Eddie could go inside, the other four stood up and turned to face them. The girl with the cropped blonde hair, Michelle, pointed at them and cooed. 

“Aww, look Sam! Another couple!” She clapped excitedly and her girlfriend, Samantha, chuckled at her enthusiasm. “You guys are so cute!” 

Eddie frowned, confused. Then he remembered Richie’s arm was around him and his eyes widened, realizing how they must look to the other pair. Especially when Richie just grinned at them and responded with a “Thank you” and a wink. 

“We are  _ not  _ a couple!” Eddie said, shaking Richie’s arm off and distancing himself from him, for emphasis.

Michelle’s eyes widened and he offered an apologetic smile. “ _ Oh _ . I’m sorry I just thought-” She trailed off with a shrug.

Richie waved her off. “It’s okay. I’ve been trying for years, but Eds here still can’t admit he is hopelessly in love with me.”

Eddie gasped. “I’m not fucking in love with you!” He said, staring at Richie in astonishment.

“See?” Richie said and the two girls laughed, the Flores twins were watching the exchange in amusement. 

“I like your costume.” The girl from Castelobruxo, Marisa, said offering Richie a sweet smile. “You look like a black panther.”

“The cool superhero from the comics?” Richie asked, excited. Eddie had no idea what he was talking about and based on her expression, neither did Marisa. 

Marcelo, her brother, chuckled. “No, she means the animal. You can find them in the Amazon rainforest. They’re like a big cat. Like a  _ jaguar  _ or a  _ tigre _ .” 

Eddie noticed the twins had the same accent as their headmistress and they tended to drop words in another language when they talked. Eddie had always wanted to learn a different language, so for him it was fascinating to hear. 

“Fucking wicked!” Richie said. “I’m a powerful black panther, Eds! Am I worthy of your love yet?”

The other four chuckled and Eddie had to fight off a smile of his own. But he didn’t get the chance to answer, because at that moment, they heard the gate open again, this time to allow entrance to the three Headmasters and their two guest judges.  

Professor McGonagall walked ahead of them and she smiled when she saw the six students talking with each other. “I am happy to see you’re getting to know one another. One of the goals of the Tournament is, of course, to create new friendships and-” she cut herself off when her eyes landed on Richie and she knitted her eyebrows. “Mr. Tozier, are you dressed like a cat?”

The other adults stared at him, curiously. Richie nodded and grinned at them. “Yes, ma’am.” 

“And may I ask why?” 

Eddie saw Richie’s smile mischievously at him, his intent to tell McGonagall the reason behind his costume written all over his face. Eddie subtly shook his head and glared at him as a warning. When Richie winked at him and started to answer the question, Eddie was prepared to elbow him if necessary. But then he just shrugged and said, “I just really like cats, Professor,” with an innocent smile. 

“Naturally.” McGonagall said, unsuspicious and Eddie relaxed when the other adults nodded in agreement. All of them, except for Hermione Granger who stifled a laugh with her hand and stared in amusement at the two of them. Eddie wondered if she had deducted the reason behind Richie’s costume… Based on what he knew about her, she probably had.  

**Richie**

“As in previous years, you will be exempt from all final exams, as the tournament will run for the rest of the year,” McGonagall was saying and Richie was trying to pay attention but then she started talking about the rules and safety precautions they’d added to keep everyone safe and he gave up. He kept glancing at the other contestants. The twins looked thrilled and a little surprised, hands clasped and listening with rapt attention to everything she said. The couple from Ilvermorny was also holding hands, Michelle was radiating excitement, nearly bouncing where she stood. Samantha looked a bit more anxious but Richie could still see the excitement in her eyes.

Then he glanced at his partner, who was doing everything in his power not to look at Richie, and a wave of nervousness passed through him. He knew that Eddie didn’t want to be his partner and, truth be told, Richie wasn’t sure how he felt about being Eddie’s. He liked flirting with Eddie, but only at arm’s length. Actually working with him (a lot, he reminded himself, Eddie was definitely the type to insist on extra practices) terrified him. He wasn’t sure he wanted to be alone with Eddie. It was a different ball game, one not on his terms anymore.

“And so, with all that in mind we’ve decided to give you a clue for your first task.” McGonagall said. Richie perked up, some useful information. “Your first task, which will occur in November 24th, will involve a creature of some sort. Prepare for that.” She said, with a smile and Richie nearly groaned. It was a hint, sure, but it was so vague that it was practically useless. Were they supposed to prepare for every monster? He glanced at Eddie again and could see that, yes, that was exactly what Eddie thought they should do. 

“We will now move on to the wand weighing. Since the Hogwarts champions were chosen last, we will weigh their wands first.” McGonagall said, pointing to another door. “Mr. Ollivander is waiting for both of you in there. After that, you’re free to return to your dorms and celebrate.”

Richie wanted to stay and talk to Hermione, maybe get her autograph to tease Stan with, but they were already being ushered through the door and into a smaller, well lit room. Mr. Ollivander was standing at a table, smiling at them. “Hello boys and congratulations. May I have your wands please?” Richie admired his no nonsense way of speaking. 

“What are you going to do with them?” Eddie asked, clearly skeptical. 

“I just need to make sure that they are yours, and that nothing has been done to change or enhance them.” Mr. Ollivander smiled again, holding out his hand. Both boy dropped their wands into it.

Mr. Ollivander looked at Eddie’s first, examining it carefully. “10 inches, Ash, Dragon heartstring core.” He bent it slightly. “Fairly inflexible.” He looked at Eddie. “Like it’s owner I would guess. Yes, I remember this wand. You came in with your father, correct? A young boy, and so eager.” He handed the wand back to Eddie. “You can do great magic with that wand boy, it's a stubborn wand but it seems willing to yield to you. Don’t disappoint it.” 

It spoke to the serious mood of the room that Richie made no jokes about Mr. Ollivander’s comments on Eddie’s wand. He saw a range of emotions pass on Eddie’s face as he took his wand back. “Thank you,” He said, his voice thick like he was trying not to cry. 

Mr. Ollivander gave him a quick smile before turning to Richie’s wand. “12.5 inches. Dogwood with a unicorn core.” He let the wand wobble between two fingers. “Very flexible.” He nodded. “This wand has a mischievous streak, again, like it’s wielder, I believe. But, I think it can also be used to perform great spells, given the chance. But you’ll likely never perform non-verbals with it, it’s a noisy wand.” He smiled a wiry smile as he handed it back to Richie. “Again, much like it’s owner. I remember you coming into my shop as well, trying to grab every wand and asking many questions. Your poor parents were overwhelmed by it all. But this wand found you, and it’s been loyal to you since.”

Richie nodded, taking his wand back. “Thank you sir.” He said quietly. He remembered that day too, his parents finally believed that he was a wizard, that it wasn’t some prank, and had taken him shopping at Diagon Alley. He had darted in and out of shops, his parents calling for him to wait, to slow down. It had been an amazing and terrifying experience, to see this whole new world and to understand none of it. 

But it had all made more sense in Mr. Ollivander’s shop, when he had found Anduril. He had tried out dozens, much to his parents chargirin. But when he finally held Anduril he had understood what Mr. Ollivander had meant, about just knowing. It had been his first friend in the wizarding world, before Cheddar and Stan, which was why he had given it such a noble name, naming it after Aragorn’s sword. 

“You’re both free to go. And  _ good luck _ .” Mr. Ollivander said with a wink, pointing them through to another door. 

The boys exited and looked at each other. Richie wanted to say something, about how he was excited to work with Eddie or how he was going to take this seriously. But before he could, Eddie gave him a curt nod, saying. “We’ll talk about training later. We should start working together soon.”

“Brilliant.” Richie replied, trying to convey his earnest excitement. 

Eddie gave him a look that probably made other people whither and said, “I’m going back to the dorms. I’m exhausted.” 

And what could Richie do but nod in agreement. “Talk soon, Eds.”

“Don’t call me that.” Eddie called over his shoulder as he walked away, robes swishing on the ground and leaving Richie standing alone. He watched until Eddie turned a corner then walked to his dorms, feeling a knot of excitement and anxiety in his stomach. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wowza this ended up being long but now we're finally starting the tournament!! 
> 
> In case you want more wand lore (which we may have poured over and decided on wands for all the losers ) here are the links:  
> https://www.pottermore.com/writing-by-jk-rowling/wand-woods  
> http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Wand_core


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sound of Richie slamming his book shut startled Eddie and he jumped in surprise.  
> “I can’t fucking believe we’re still expected to do research by reading books. That’s what the Internet is for. It’s 2008, where the fuck are the computers?” Richie said, frustrated. Eddie cocked his head to the side, confused. Richie sighed. “You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you, Eds?”  
> Eddie shrugged. “I, uh. I know what a computer is. It’s like a modern typewriter, isn’t it?”  
> “You’re adorable.” Richie said, making Eddie scrunch up his nose.

**Eddie**

“Alright!” Ben said, letting the stack of books he was carrying fall on the table with a thud, startling Eddie and Richie. “This was all I could find about the Tournament.” He said, pointing at the smaller pile of books. “And this, is all I could find about magical creatures.” He added, gesturing towards the second, much bigger, stack of books.

The moment Eddie and Richie were told they would be facing a magical creature on their first task, Eddie had gone to Ben for help. He had searched the entire library for books he thought would help them, books about past Tournaments and the tasks other champions had faced and about magical creatures, and had stored all of them in the Room of Requirement, where the three of them currently were.

Richie groaned and dropped his head on the table. “This is why you dragged me here, Eds? Not that I don’t love spending time with you, but I’d rather be sleeping right now.”

Eddie pursed his lips. “I know you don’t take things seriously, Richie, but we need to prepare for the first task. The two of us. Together.”

“There’s no way to prepare.” Richie sighed. “All we know is that we’ll have to face a magical creature. Do you know how many magical creatures there are?”

“Last time I checked, a hundred and twenty-six. But I doubt they will put you up against a Bowtruckle or a Niffler.” Ben supplied.

Richie let out a chuckle. “You really know your stuff, don’t you, Hanscom?” He said and Ben blushed. Then he turned to Eddie. “A hundred and twenty-six creatures. And you expect us to what? Learn everything about all of them?”

“Well, not _all_ of them.” Eddie shrugged. “Ben is right. They will put us against something scary, challenging. That rules some creatures out.”

Richie rolled his eyes. “Leaving us with, what, a hundred and _twenty_ creatures to study?”

Eddie nodded and grabbed the first book from the bigger pile and opened it to page one. When Richie failed to do the same, Eddie glared at him until he sighed and grabbed another book and, bergundigly, started reading.

Eddie could see Ben’s stare alternate between Richie and Eddie while they argued, but he didn’t say anything until they went silent.

“Uh, I would love to stay and help but I promised Madame Prince I would help reorganize the Invisibility Section.” Ben said, breaking the awkward silence. “So, good luck.”

He waved at the two of them and left the room, leaving Eddie alone with Richie. Eddie frowned at that. Things between the two of them had been awkward, to say the least. Used to only spending little time together, this was a change to both of them and what used to be harmless banter had turned into actual bickering, mostly because they didn’t know how to act around each other. Eddie knew he came across as bossy and annoying but when all Richie did was joke and complain about Eddie’s ideas of preparation, it was hard not to.

After the wand weighing ceremony, Eddie had been too tired and worn down to make plans for when they should get together and do their research, so it was two days later, during Potions class, that he had approached Richie and told him to meet him outside the Room of Requirement, first thing in the morning the next day. Richie had only nodded and then Eddie left, not knowing what else he should say to him.

He knew he was being less than pleasant and he was trying to be better at that, but there was a lot on his plate right now and it was hard to keep his emotions in check. Especially, since he hadn’t been able to get enough sleep this past few days, not since Halloween.

That day, after the feast, the choosing ceremony and the wand weighing he went to his dormitory and he figured he would fall asleep right away, after all it had been an exhausting day but he had laid awake for hours, thoughts of the tournament, Richie, the other champions but mostly his father, filling his mind.

Since the moment Mr. Ollivander had mentioned him, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him. About that day, when an 11 year old Eddie, holding his father’s hand had stood outside Mr. Ollivander’s shop, nervous about getting his first wand. Frank Kaspbrak had ushered him inside and watched as he tried wand after wand, and when he finally found the one that would become his, Frank had been smiling proudly at his son. That was the same smile that had been on his face, the day he and Eddie’s mother had waved him off at King’s Cross station and when he had returned back home for the summer, excited to tell them about his first year at Hogwarts.

It was also the same smile he had in the picture that presented at his funeral.

Frank had died that summer, when Eddie was twelve years old. He had been a chaser for the Appleby Arrows and during an off-season friendly game, his broom had malfunctioned and he had plummeted to the ground in a whirlwind of screams and panic and if the fall hadn’t killed him, the magical explosion that followed his landing, definitely did.

Eddie had been there, at the Quidditch Pitch. One moment he had been cheering for his father and the next, his mother was trying to cover Eddie's eyes as she wailed and cried for her husband, but she hadn't been fast enough and Eddie had seen his father die right in front of him. 

The image haunted him after and he wished he had a Pensieve so that he could extract that memory from his mind forever. It didn't help that the whole thing had ended up on the front page of the Daily Prophet so that _everyone_ could see. 

When he arrived at Hogwarts for his second year, after begging his mother to let him go back for weeks, since she was convinced it was the magic world as a whole who had killed his father and that she had to protect Eddie from it by eliminating every aspect of magic from their lives, everyone knew about his father’s death.

Most people were sympathetic. Beverly had enveloped him in a hug the moment he joined her in the train’s compartment and had shared with him the Pumpkin Pasties she bought from the trolley afterwards, listening attentively to Eddie as he opened up about Frank’s death and Sonia’s breakdown and the terrible summer he had endured.

The teachers were also good to him, they told Eddie that he shouldn’t worry about essays and exams that year, that they understood his position. The Headmistress herself had summoned him to her office so that she could personally offer her sympathies and support in anything Eddie needed.

Other people were less pleasant. Mainly Henry and his friends, who would shove the Daily Prophet article, where there was a magic picture -the kind that moves- of the moment his father had hit the ground, right into Eddie’s face, as if he needed some kind of reminder.

It got even worse when Quidditch tryouts came around. Eddie had been debating whether to join or not the team since he was accepted into Hogwarts. Beverly and him had even discussed it many times during their first year. He had told his parents over the summer, and his father had been thrilled over his son trying to follow his steps while his mother had been apprehensive but didn’t try to talk him out of it. At least, not until the accident. After that, she had forbidden Eddie to go anywhere near a broom, going as far as to writing a letter to the school’s staff that Eddie should be excused from Flying Class. But none of that affected her son’s desire to play Quidditch and to honor his father.

He still remembered how people had reacted when he arrived at the field. They repeatedly asked him if he was sure, if he really wanted to try out. Henry, who was already part of the team had laughed to his face and made cruel jokes about Eddie’s father and how he should be careful in the air, unless he wanted to die the same way.

In the end, none of that had mattered, if only, it spurred Eddie on and he did great when it was his turn. He was accepted in the team as a chaser, just like his father, but even after proving himself to everyone, the mocking and the bullying didn’t stop.

It only got worse. Especially when one mortifying morning during breakfast his mother had sent him a howler where she yelled at him for having the nerve to join the Quidditch team and then proceeded to cry over what could happen to him and what she would do if her Eddie bear died during a game. Needless to say, it was then, when the entire school found out about his home situation. And from then on, people would often underestimate him, thinking that just because his mother had quit practicing magic and decided to life her life as a muggle, it made him less of a wizard.

All those thoughts had been circling his mind since Halloween and every night when he went to sleep, his dreams would be plagued with the images of his father’s accident as well as others, in which he saw himself dying during the tournament, his mother sobbing over his dead body, the creatures he would have to face and the tasks he would have to overcome.

Needless to say, he couldn’t get much sleep, which is why he found himself dozing off while reading about cockatrices. The sound of Richie slamming his book shut startled him awake and he jumped in surprise.

“I can’t fucking believe we’re still expected to do research by reading books. That’s what the Internet is for. It’s 2008, where the fuck are the computers?” Richie said, frustrated. Eddie cocked his head to the side, confused. Richie sighed. “You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you, Eds?”

Eddie shrugged. “I, uh. I know what a computer is. It’s like a modern typewriter, isn’t it?”

“You’re adorable.” Richie said, making Eddie scrunch up his nose. “That, my dear Eds, is exactly the problem. If wizards had computers, we could just type the name of the creature we want to read about and boom! There it is. We wouldn’t have to read the entire fucking book trying to find it.”

Eddie narrowed his eyes at him. “That sounds crazy.”

“Crazy?” Richie asked in shock. “We’re literally in a room that constantly appears and disappears, reading about dangerous creatures that we will have to face in a deadly magical tournament and you think the internet is crazy?” Eddie shrugged, drawing a sigh out of Richie. “How is that possible?”

“Well, magic is something I’ve always known, since I was a kid.” Eddie said.

“Well, for me is the opposite. I’ve always known I was different but I never thought I was a wizard or that magic existed. Neither did my parents. When I received the letter, they were convinced it was all a prank.”

“What did they have to say about having a wizard for a son?”

“Once they believed it, they said it explained a lot of the crazy shit that happened when I was a kid.” Richie chuckled.

Eddie stifled a laugh with his hand as he imagined a young Richie floating around the house, his parents on his trail or Richie sending some kid flying against a wall and having to explain how he did it while standing four feet away. Those things had happened to him but his parents had expected it and they had found it amusing when Eddie would accidentally do some magic. Richie’s muggle parents were probably very confused.

“Do they know you’re doing this?” Eddie asked before he could stop himself. It was something that had been on his mind since he was chosen. Whether the other champions’ parents knew that their children decided to enter the tournament or that they were chosen. His mom didn’t and he was planning on it staying that way.

“Do they know I’m meeting secretly with the cutest boy in the school?” Richie asked, grinning.

Eddie rolled his eyes. “Do they know you are participating in the tournament?” He clarified.

“Yeah, they do. They don’t know all the details though. I didn’t want them to worry about me all year. More than usual.” Richie said, with a shrug. “What about your mom, Eds? Does _she_ know?”

Eddie scoffed. “Trust me, if she knew, you would’ve heard by now. Forget sending a howler, this time she would show up here herself and pull my ears all the way to London or something.”

“Ah, the infamous howler. I remember that.”

“Everyone does.” Eddie said with a grimace.

Richie opened his mouth to say something but then seemed to change his mind and closed it. Whatever he wanted to say, he hesitated a couple more times before he was able to get it out. “I uh, I always thought it was brave. What you did. Joining the team after your father- well. Slytherin wouldn’t win as many games if it wasn’t for you.” Eddie’s eyes widened as they did whenever Richie said something sincere, which didn’t happen very often. The two of them stared awkwardly at each other before Richie chuckled and said something to lighten the mood. “And I wouldn’t get to see you looking fine as all hell in your Quidditch uniform. Now that would be a shame.”

Eddie rolled his eyes, but there was a small smile on his face. “Alright, that’s enough chit chat. We have work to do.” He looked down at the book that was in front of him. “Cockatrices won’t study themselves.”

Richie snorted. “Ha! Cockatrice. Do you think they choose that name because it looks like a-”

“Richie. Don’t.”

-

**Richie**

Richie looked over at Eddie, who kept tugging at his robes, smoothing out non existent wrinkles. He had already insisted on fixing Richie’s tie three times, which nearly killed Richie. Both because Eddie kept tightening it and because Eddie had been close enough that he could smell the soap he used and to count the scattering of freckles that decorated the top of his cheeks.

They were waiting for their first interview as Champions. Both were nervous, Eddie’s nerves came out in rapid leg movement and fidgeting. Richie was the opposite, he was still, trying not to move and annoy Eddie.

Earlier, Richie had grabbed a cookie from the plate that had been offered to them and Eddie had snapped at him about food in his teeth, causing him to throw the cookies away. Eddie had seemed sorry after but was too wrapped up in his own thoughts to apologize. Since then both have been sitting in silence, Richie spinning his wand in his fingers and Eddie picking invisible lint off his robes.

Richie knew why he was nervous. Though he loved the attention he didn’t love the idea of answering questions about being born a muggle. All the other competitors came from magical families and, while he knew logically that didn't matter, it put him on a different field than anyone else. It set him apart, again. And he knew it was bound to come up now, wizards loved asking questions about muggle life and all the things that they considered strange.

“Boys, you’re up!” An assistant from the Daily Prophet called. She gave them the once over, fixing one of Richie’s curls before ushering them in.

They were pushed into a small tent, one of many that had been set up on the grounds for the tournament. Richie wasn’t sure what all of them were for but this one seemed to be for the media to camp out in. Everyone in the wizarding world knew the tournament was back and reactions had ranged from ecstatic to horrified. Regardless of how people felt everyone wanted to know the details, including details about the newest Champions.

“Hello boys!” A deep voice called to them. Richie looked and saw Darce Longtin, a writer for the Daily Prophet. Stan had told him that Darce was something between a gossip columnist and a real writer, warning Richie to be careful about what he said.

“He’ll twist it Richie. He can turn people against you- remember what Skeeter did to Harry? It’ll be like that, or worse.”

Stan’s words rang in his mind as they sat across from him, the two close enough that they were nearly touching.

Darce smiled a large, disarming smile at them, his ebony skin marked against his bright green robes. He wasn’t trying to hide who he was or why he was a there, several small items whizzed around his head. Richie realized they were microphones and recorders, leaving him free to talk with his hands and observe the boys.

“Welcome welcome!” He said warmly. “I’m so excited to get to know both of you better. I’ve heard nearly nothing of you Mr. Tozier and well, everyone knows who you are, Mr. Kaspbrak. Your dad was one of my favorite players. Your mom must be so proud that you’re following in his adventuring footsteps.”

Eddie visibly paled at the mention of his dad and mom. He opened his mouth to respond but nothing came out. Richie looked at him, worried. Eddie had been anxious before and now, he was worried that this would cause a panic attack.

Unthinkingly, he grabbed Eddie’s hand, trying to offer some comfort. As he did a flash went off from above them. He realized that a picture had been taken before Eddie could pull his hand away, not looking at Richie as he did so.

“Let’s get started!” A list of questions appeared in front of Darce and he read down them quickly before asking, “Tell me about your motivations. What encouraged you boys to enter such a dangerous tournament, knowing what happened last time?”

Richie glanced at Eddie, seeing that he was nowhere near ready to answer. “Well Darce,” Richie started, “I wanted to enter because of the fame. Everyone knows the winners of these, they go down in history. And to make Hogwarts proud. Me and Eds, we’re hoping to bring another win home for our school.” The practiced answer rolled off his tongue, Stan and Mike had been coaching him, not trusting Richie on his own.

Darce turned to Eddie, who tried to stammer out an answer. “I wanted to- for my dad.”

Darce’s face turned sympathetic but Richie thought he looked like a shark, smelling blood in the water. “Tell me more about that, son, how did it affect you? What do you remember?”

“I- it was terrible.” Eddie said, still seeming shocked and stuck.

“What else? How did your mom react when she found out about it?” Richie was being ignored now, Darce was leaning in and there were flashes all over, taking pictures of Eddie’s stunned expression.

“Ed’s mom is too busy with me to worry.” Richie said, jumping in. He could practically feel Stan slapping his forehead but he needed to do something. “I meet up with Mrs. K every week to give her some much needed healing, if you know what I mean.” Richie winked at the cameras, which had turned back to him.

Darce turned to him, looking annoyed that he had been diverted but seizing the opportunity to jump on Richie. “I heard about this trademark humor. Tell me, Mr. Tozier, some of your classmates seem to think you don’t belong in Ravenclaw. How do you answer that?”

Richie paused, frowning slightly. Who had been talking to Darce about him? Who would?

But even as he asked it he knew- Greta and her clan would jump on the chance to say something to the Daily Prophet, eager for any fame. “I belong there.” Richie said stubbornly.

“Do you? I’ve heard you often can’t figure out the riddles. Is that true?”

“He’s good at potions!” Eddie finally chimed in and Richie looked at him, shocked. Eddie coughed, not looking at Richie, and continued. “He’s really good at them. I’m in class with him and he just knows how to make them, what to add. It’s like he can hear what they need. It’s really amazing.”

“Thanks.” Richie said quietly. It was the first compliment Eddie had ever given him.

Darce again looked upset at losing his angle. “Well you two certainly do protect each other. That’s so… _nice_.” The interview continued, asking them what they expected to see and how they were preparing. Eddie was still stiff but was doing better, he was answering questions and Richie jumped in at the pauses.

“Bloody hell, that was awful.” Richie said, tearing his tie off as they finally left the tent and started back to the castle. He ran a hand through his hair, mussing it up again.

Eddie nodded. “I should have been better prepared. You did great. I came off like a dead flobberworm.”

“You looked cute. That’s what matters.” Richie continued before Eddie could argue. “And Stan grilled me on ‘acceptable interview answers’.” He said, putting the words in quotes.

Eddie giggled and Richie looked at him, delighted by the noise. “Stan is a smart man.”

“Don’t let him hear you say that, his ego is already big enough.” Eddie laughed again and Richie drank in the noise, happy that Eddie had relaxed. He seemed happier than he had in weeks.

They came to the spot where they needed to part and Eddie paused before turning, “Hey.”

Richie looked at him. “Hey?”

“Thanks.” Eddie was looking at his sleeves again. “For the help in there. I have a hard time talking about my dad. I froze.”

Richie shrugged. “We’re partners, we’re on the same side.” He grinned. “Plus, talking has always come natural to me.”

Eddie laughed again and nodded. “Well, thanks anyway. It was nice of you.”

Richie nodded too. “You’re welcome.”

“See you tomorrow, for studying.” Eddie reminded him, giving him a small wave before turning down to the dungeons. Richie watched him leave, thinking that this was the first time they’d been together and hadn’t fought. It was certainly progress.

-

“Did you see this?” Stan asked the next morning when Richie sat down for breakfast.

He rubbed a hand over his face, trying to wake up. “Assume I didn’t.” He had just woken up and rolled out of bed, eager for some breakfast and not difficult questions.

But before he could even place some eggs on his plate, Stan have shoved a newspaper under his nose. Richie glared at him and Stan pointed to the front page. The title was ‘Hogwarts’ Champions getting close to victory and each other’ and, under it, a moving picture of Richie grabbing Eddie’s hand.

Richie gaped at it before letting his head fall, narrowly missing a plate of sausages. “Say it ain’t so, Stanny. Say it ain’t so.”

Stan wiggled the paper out from under his head. “It is so. And the article is even worse, talking about the obvious tension between you two, and how you seemed unable to keep your eyes off each other. Basically, he ignored everything you said and just focused on how you must be secretly dating.”

Richie groaned. “The tournament won’t kill me. It won’t have chance. Eddie is going to the minute he sees this.” They had been making progress, things had finally started to get beyond either angry or awkward and now this. Richie was going to find Darce and turn him into a beetle, ala Stan’s hero.

“Well he just walked in, so you can ask him.”

Richie’s head shot up and he saw Eddie walking towards them. “Stan, hide me.” Richie said, gripping Stan’s narrow shoulders. Stan shook him off with a glare before standing and leaving. Eddie sat down in his spot.

“Hiya Eds, fine day isn’t it?” Richie asked, worried that Eddie was going to be upset.

“Did you see this?” Eddie asked, sliding the newspaper under him.

Richie nodded, looking at Eddie and trying to read his expression. “I didn’t- I wasn’t trying to do that.” Richie said, not wanting Eddie to think that was his intent.

“I know.” Eddie said and Richie breathed a sigh of relief. Eddie wasn’t mad at him. But he still seemed off. He was looking at the picture of them, none of his normal fire was present.

“What do you want to do about it Eds?” Richie asked, unsure what he could do but hating this version of Eddie.

“Not much we can do, is there?” Eddie said, sighing.

“What’s wrong? Will you talk to me? I know we’re not close but-”

Eddie rose and Richie looked at him, confused. He assumed Eddie was done, not wanting to talk to him anymore. Instead he looked at Richie, barely taller than him standing as Richie was sitting. “Come on a walk with me.”

They walked the grounds, Richie letting Eddie lead the way.

“I’m not ashamed that I’m gay.” Eddie finally started as they rounded Hagrid’s hut. “I left the closet years ago.” Richie nodded, sensing that Eddie was building up to something. He continued after a beat. “But having everyone in the wizarding world know that Frank Kaspbrak’s son is gay?” He exhaled. “That’s more than I bargained for. Maybe I should have expected it, I knew that they would look into our lives but I thought it would be our class grades, not something like this.”

“I didn’t know your dad, but I can’t imagine he’d think any less of you Eds.” Richie said quietly, finally understanding Eddie’s concern at being outed to the entire wizarding world.

Eddie shrugged. “Maybe not. But if the world was ever going to find out-”

“You wanted it on your terms.” Richie finished and Eddie nodded. Richie wanted to reach out and hug Eddie, to pull him close and promise revenge, but he resisted. He and Eddie were getting to know each other but that didn’t mean Eddie wanted to be touched by him just yet. “I’m sorry Eds, this is my fault. I grabbed your hand.”

Eddie looked up at him, shaking his head. “It’s not. I’m not blaming you.” They continued walking. “But we do need to handle this. Every wizard in London thinks we’re dating now.”

“We could have a very public break up?” Richie suggested. “In front of Darce? I’ll even throw in some tears for good measure.”

Eddie smiled at him. “I don't think that’s necessary. It would just invite another article about how we’re going to work together now that we’ve split. And I don’t want that.” Eddie kicked a rock. “Besides, maybe it’ll be fine? There’s already another couple in the tournament, people probably won’t focus on us.”

Richie nodded. “Probably not.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Task number one is coming next chapter! **GET REDDIE!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Richie?” Eddie whispered as they just stood there. He tried to say something else. How are we going to do this? Good luck? Distract them and I’ll run the other way? But nothing came out.
> 
> Richie looked down at him. “We’ve got this, Eds. Just- don’t let it bite your arm off or something.” He said, laughing humorlessly.

**Richie**

"The first task is designed to test your daring; courage in the face of the unknown is an important quality in a wizard." McGonagall was saying, standing in front of the champions. Percy was behind her, holding a purple bag that Richie assumed contained small versions of the creatures they’d be fighting.

 

He had been feeling confident in the task until now, standing next to Eddie and waiting proved to be his undoing. The two had been reviewing monsters for weeks. And growing closer while doing it. Richie would be lying if he didn’t pretend that part of his reason for studying so hard was to spend time with Eddie. They had spent many nights in the Room of Requirement, pouring over books and quizzing each other on monsters. 

 

Something had shifted between them since the interview. Richie could tell that Eddie was somehow less guarded around him, more willing to talk to and trust him. Richie wasn’t going to ruin that. Eddie was finally seeing him as a person and not just a flirt. He’d been working hard to make Eddie see his commitment. 

 

The fallout from the interview had been strange. Most Hogwarts students knew it was fake so beyond some taunts from Henry and teasing from Greta it was quiet. Stan would occasionally ask him how it was going and Richie knew that Eddie was getting teased by Beverly but mostly people left it alone. It wasn’t as interesting as the tournament, which people loved to stop him in hallways and ask him about. 

The surprise had been in how the wizarding world had reacted. Both had received fan mail- some talking about how happy they were that the boys were together, a few small gifts from fans and even a few declarations of love, telling them they could do better (Richie remembered a particular letter that sang to Eddie over breakfast one morning- Break up with Richie / I’m less kitchie / I’ll be your man / Promise I can! Richie had heard Bev singing it to Eddie several times over the next few weeks).

 

Unfortunately, not all of the mail had been so harmless. Eddie had gotten some mail about how shameful it was that he was gay, that he was dishonoring his father’s legacy.  It had caused Eddie to shrink in himself for a few days, avoiding everyone, but eventually he had bounced back. Eddie was tougher than any anonymous mail, and wasn’t going to let them embarrass him. Some good had even come out of that -Eddie was now out and proud, and several of the younger Hogwarts boys definitely had crushes on him, Richie had seen them waiting for Eddie outside of class, fawning over him. He couldn’t decide if he found it sweet or infuriating. 

 

But the most shocking fallout was that Richie had gotten a lot of mail talking about how he wasn’t worthy to date a pureblood because he was muggle born. People thought that someone like Frank Kaspbrak’s son should be dating a noble name, not some muggle born from the London suburbs. He’d gotten a few howlers about it, to the point where Mcgonagall had been intercepting his mail. That was hard for him, hearing someone tell him he shouldn’t date someone just because of his blood. It hurt to know that there were still so many people like that in a world that he adored. 

 

The newfound fame also meant that many things about them were no longer private. Richie’s dating life had been splashed in page six during a slow news week, someone had clearly given them a very false interview. Eddie’s quidditch games were now often covered in the sports section. People were invested in them, and who they were. It was a strange feeling, to have strangers know about his life. Richie wasn’t a private person and he hated it. He couldn’t imagine how Eddie had felt. 

 

They hadn’t talked about it- beyond agreeing to not disagree with the paper. It meant that neither could date anyone else, which wasn’t a sacrifice for Richie. He was with Eddie nearly all the time anyway. For a time, pictures would appear of them together, walking the grounds or in class, until Mcgonagall discovered the source and put a stop to it. 

 

Overall though, Richie hadn’t thought about it much, too preoccupied with classes and training to be concerned. November 24th had grown closer and closer and he felt prepared. They had studied every monster and its weaknesses and had been working on spells together. Richie smiled when he thought back to studying with Eddie in the Room of Requirement well past curfew. There had been a few times when he thought that maybe, just maybe, Eddie felt something for him. But then Richie would crack an off color joke and Eddie would scowl. 

 

Richie’s self sabotage was partially on purpose. He still wasn’t sure he could handle actually being with Eddie. The more he learned about the smaller man the more he fell for him. But he still wasn’t sure that he was worthy of him, especially after all those howlers telling him that he definitely wasn’t. 

 

But that was the point of this tournament, to prove that Richie was worthy. Of Eddie. Of being in Ravenclaw. Of being at Hogwarts. 

 

“We’ll start with our guests.” McGonagall said with a flourish, stepping aside so the Castelobruxo students could approach. “You will need to best the monster and obtain the scroll, which will be hidden somewhere in the arena. Remember, use all and all resources at your disposal but do not kill the monster. The judges will be watching and awarding you points based on creativity, time and style.”  

 

Percy gave them what he probably meant to be a reassuring smile but it came off as meek. He held out the bag and Richie could see Marisa holding her breath as she reached in. Everyone leaned in as she pull out a small creature that looked vaguely like a rhinoceros. 

 

“You will be battling an erumpent!” Percy said as Marisa held the small figure in her palm. It was running small circles on her hand, trying to scurry up her arm, until Percy took it back. “Good luck!” 

 

Marisa and Marcelo both said thank you and approached the tent flap. Richie saw them grab each other’s hands before they disappeared. Sound roared from outside as the flap opened then quickly disappeared as it fluttered shut. 

 

Richie glanced at Eddie, who was staring straight ahead, his right leg jiggling furiously next to Richie. He wanted to put a hand on it, to calm him down but he didn’t dare. Instead he strained to hear anything from outside but the silencing spell on the tent was perfect. He could only hear Eddie’s breathing and Percy’s conversation with Michelle and Samantha. 

 

After what felt like an eternity McGonagall cocked her head, as if hearing a message, and nodded. “Castelobruxo  has completed their task. Next, we’ll have Ilvermorny draw.” 

 

Samantha and Michelle stood, Michelle reaching her hand in the bag and pulling out a spider. It immediately scurried up her arm and into her hair. She froze, unmoving, until Samantha reached over and plucked it out, holding the small creature. 

 

“A giant spider!” Percy exclaimed. Richie saw Michelle pale, she was clearly terrified of spiders. Samantha reached for her hand, giving it a squeeze and saying something softly in her ear. “Best of luck to both of you!” He said as both went to the tent flap.

 

“They didn’t look too good.” Eddie said as the flap closed for a second time.

 

Richie bobbed his head in agreement. “I hope Michelle is okay.” He knew that they had been practicing as hard as them. The groups had talked occasionally, swapping tips that they found. Richie liked the girls and wanted them to do well- just, not quite as well as them. 

 

Richie was surprised when he felt Eddie’s hand slip into his. He looked over and Eddie turned red before mumbling, “Everyone else was holding hands. And we’re supposed to be dating.” There was a camera buzzing around, occasionally taking pictures as the champions waited. 

 

“Makes sense.” Richie said, not wanting to admit how comforting it was to have Eddie’s hand in his. 

 

They waited again in silence, listening as Percy regaled McGonagall with a story about rescuing a magical motorcycle that had been terrorizing muggles. It probably would have been a good story if Percy didn’t focus on the the paperwork portion. 

 

Finally McGonagall nodded again, hearing a message. “It appears to be your turn.” She smiled warmly at them. “Best of luck to you both.” 

 

“Thank you professor.” Eddie said as Richie reached in the bag. 

 

“Bloody hell!” He said, pulling his hand back as something bit him. He looked at Percy, who didn’t seem concerned. Scowling, he reached in again and grabbed the orny creature. It struggled against his grip, thrashing as he pulled it out. 

 

His eyes grew wide as he looked at the small, furious creature in his hand. It had a lion’s head, a goat’s body and the tail of a dragon. It was roaring furiously, indignant that Richie was manhandling it. 

Eddie looked from Richie’s hand to McGonagall, clearly shocked at their creature. “A bloody chimaera?” He said, his voice high and slightly panicked. 

-

**Eddie**

Eddie felt Richie squeeze his hand in what was supposed to be a comforting gesture, but the way he kept staring at the figure in his hand in apprehension told him, he was just as nervous as him to face a chimaera. A creature that in all the books the two of them had read was described as violent and bloodthirsty, not to mention, it was classified by the Ministry of Magic itself as very dangerous. The books also said there was only one known instance of successful slaying of a chimaera and the wizard who defeated it had died afterwards from exhaustion.

Eddie gulped. He knew Richie was aware of all of this as well and they exchanged worried looks as Percy ushered them towards the tent flap.

“Richie?” Eddie whispered as they just stood there. He tried to say something else. How are we going to do this? Good luck? Distract them and I’ll run the other way? But nothing came out.

Richie looked down at him. “We’ve got this, Eds. Just- don’t let it bite your arm off or something.” He said, laughing humorlessly. 

Eddie took a deep breath and still holding Richie’s hand tightly, the two of them left the tent. 

The first thing Eddie noticed when he stepped outside was the noise. Now that the silencing spell had disappeared, he could hear the cheers and screams coming from the people on the stands. 

Next, he noticed his surroundings. They were standing in a round arena, surrounded by stones and gravel. The stands rose tall around them and Eddie’s eyes scanned the crowd for Beverly and Ben but the sun was shining brightly on him and affected his vision. 

He was still trying to locate his friends when he heard a roar coming from his right. 

His head snapped in the direction of the sound as he and Richie raised their wands. From behind a rock, he saw a lion head appear and shivers run down his spine at how massive the creature was.

With the hand that wasn’t holding his wand up and in front of him, Eddie reached for Richie’s hand for the second time that day. He didn’t know why but there was something reassuring about it and he had grown used to it in the past few weeks and right now, standing in front of the huffing and angry-looking chimaera, he needed something to help calm him down. He could worry about what it meant to want to hold Richie’s hand when he wasn’t facing potential death. 

The creature advanced on them and Eddie noticed there was a chain wrapped around one of its legs, but seeing its size and strength he worried it wouldn’t be enough to stop it, if it were to attack on them. 

“Oh, bloody hell.” Richie muttered. “That thing is huge.”

Eddie shuddered. It  _ was  _ huge. And it was moving towards them, its eyes focused on Eddie and Richie. Eddie took in its lion head, goat body and dragon tail and the way steam spewed out of his mouth when it roared. He felt his own mouth dry up and his blood run cold. How were they supposed to fight that thing?

Before he could ask Richie that same question, he saw the creature support itself on its rear legs and jump towards them. Eddie barely had time to stagger back and out of the way, the creature’s hooves missing his chest by a couple of inches. 

Richie wasn’t that lucky. He tripped on some gravel and fell, the creature landing on top of him. He had lost his wand and Eddie could see the look of terror on his face as the chimaera’s face stopped only inches away from his. Richie tried to fight the creature off with his hands but it was way too strong and way too heavy and from the looks of it, preparing itself to bite Richie’s head off. 

“ _ Protego _ !” Eddie yelled instinctively, pointing its wand at the two of them just as the chimaera lunged forward and tried to close its jaws around Richie’s neck with enough force to snap it in half, only to bounce against the protective barrier Eddie had conjured. The impact made the creature retreat and Richie, who had closed his eyes expecting the chimaera to finish him off, turned to stare at Eddie, in awe after being saved by him.  

But Eddie wasn’t paying attention to his partner. His eyes were locked on the chimaera who was staring at him as if he were a piece of meat, ready to be cooked alive and eaten. It lunged at him but, for the second time in that arena, Eddie reacted fast and instinctively. 

“ _ Depulso _ !”

The spell sent the chimaera flying away from the two of them and against a rock. It didn’t take long for it to recover and once it did, it stared at Eddie, seething in anger. 

Without taking his eyes off of it, knowing that if he looked away it would be the last thing he ever did, Eddie helped Richie stand up. He offered his hand to him, where he still laid on the ground, too afraid to move. Once he was back on his, albeit shaky feet, Richie cursed.

“Oh no.” He muttered.

Alarmed, Eddie spared a glance his way expecting to find blood or a chunk of his face missing. Maybe his shield charm hadn’t been that good and the chimaera had gotten to Richie still. But he looked fine to Eddie. There was something odd about him that Eddie couldn’t quite place, but his face was complete. A bit dirty and definitely, scared but fine nonetheless. “I lost my glasses.” He said and that was when Eddie noticed that Richie’s glasses were, in fact, gone and that he was squinting at Eddie. 

“But you can see, right?” Eddie asked, starting to worry himself. Richie shook his head and Eddie felt dread spread through him. How was Richie supposed to be of any use if he couldn’t see what was going on? 

His head snapped up when he heard the sound of hooves against pavement. The chimaera was advancing towards them again. 

“Eddie.” Richie whined. Maybe he couldn’t see clearly, but the terror on his face told Eddie that he knew a new attack was coming. 

“Just- Stay behind me.” Eddie said, and placed himself between Richie and the creature. He expected it to lunge at them again but was surprised when it turned around and slashed at them with its tail. He was so surprised, there wasn’t much he could do to stop it from hitting him right in the abdomen, knocking the breath out of him.

The impact sent him flying and he fell on top of Richie. He felt pain flare up all the way to his chest. Still, he forced himself to crawl to his knees, worried that if he stayed down it would be over for him. 

It was a good call. 

The chimaera was already facing them again, jaws opened and Eddie could see flames forming in its throat. Flames that would burn his face off if he didn’t react quickly. 

“ _ Protego _ !” He yelled again. And saw the fire come in contact with his invisible shield. Not giving the chimaera a chance to recover, Eddie yelled. “ _ Stupefy _ !” 

The creature was momentarily stunned by the spell and Eddie used the opportunity to recuperate. The pain in his chest was fading into a dull ache and he was able to stand up and stay on his feet.

The adrenaline and the fear had rendered him deaf during the entire time he had been there, but in that moment he registered the cheers and encouragement from the people watching them. They must have been surprised that he had lasted that long. Eddie knew that he was. The thought spurred him on and he decided to advance on the chimaera and attack it before he was forced to defend himself and Richie, again. 

He was unaware of Richie’s whereabouts but he couldn’t bring himself to spare a glance his way, the chimaera was already picking itself up. 

As he walked towards it, Eddie felt the exhaustion starting to set in. His muscles ached, his head was throbbing and he could taste the copper tang of blood in his mouth. The chimaera on the other hand, didn’t look tired at all, only angry even though Eddie had been casting spell after spell at it. He didn’t know for how long he could keep that going, especially considering those spells didn’t seem to do much more than hold the creature back, momentarily. He needed something stronger. He needed to knock the chimaera down long enough to search for the scroll and get out of there. 

The chimaera moved forward, but Eddie had been expecting its movement. Since he didn't have a plan yet, he casted another Stunning spell to buy himself more time. 

He had been ignoring his surroundings in favor of focusing his entire attention on his opponent but he let himself look around for a moment. Unknowingly, he had cornered the chimaera in a small space, a cave of sorts. The creature was located just below a prominent grouping of rocks and an idea formed in Eddie’s head. 

Too bad that was the exact moment the chimaera decided to strike, taking Eddie by surprise. It spat flames at him again, only now, without a shield to protect him, the fire caught in his clothes and Eddie could feel it burning through and eating at his flesh. It was a terrible pain and Eddie’s vision blurred for a moment. He dropped his wand and fell to the ground, hoping the gravel would be enough to extinguish the flames. 

“ _ Aqua eructo _ !” He heard Richie scream in the distance, before he felt a jet of water wash over him, smothering the fire with it. He turned around and saw Richie, his wand still pointed at Eddie, a crazed look on his face. He had found his glasses but there was a large crack on one side and they rested crookedly on his nose. Eddie nodded at him, as a thank you for keeping him from burning alive, before turning his attention back to the chimaera. 

The water had not only put out the flames, leaving Eddie completely drenched but it also soothed the pain from the burns, long enough for Eddie’s mind to clear up and allow him to notice that his wand was no longer in his hand. Which was a problem, considering the creature was readying itself for yet another attack and by the looks of it, unless he did something, Eddie wasn't going to survive this one. 

“Shit.” Eddie muttered as he looked around for his missing wand, only to find it sitting in a crevice to his right. Not caring about anything but getting his wand, he dived towards it, hitting the ground hard in the process. The moment his skin made contact with the wood, he pointed it towards his target and yelled, “ _ Bombarda maxima _ !” just as the chimaera leaped at him. The spell flew over the creature’s head and collided against the stone roof, causing an explosion that made rocks and dust and stone rain down on the chimaera and Eddie himself, turning his entire world black. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What is it, Eds?”  
> “I- I could’ve sworn I saw something.” Eddie muttered, before the something caught his eye again. “There!” He said, pointing in that direction. “There’s something there.”  
> “Another creature?” Richie wondered.   
> “Impossible. We defeated the chimaera. That was the task and we did it.” Eddie said, shaking his head. He narrowed his eyes, hoping it would help him see whatever was there. It couldn’t be another creature. Those weren’t the rules.

**Eddie**

“Eddie? Eddie?” 

Eddie opened his eyes only to find that everything was still dark around him. He could hear Richie’s voice calling for him, but it felt like it came from far away. There was also the faint sound of someone digging through the rocks, trying to get to him. 

It was a while before there was enough light for Eddie to be able to see again and the first thing he saw was Richie’s face and the exact moment his expression changed from panicked to relieved when he realized Eddie was still alive under all the rubble and the rocks. 

“By Merlin’s fucking beard, Eddie!” Richie exclaimed. “Are you okay?”

Eddie groaned. He tried to move but found himself unable to. Richie worked faster, trying to free him. Little by little, the weight on Eddie’s body subsided and Richie was able to pull him up to his feet. Eddie’s legs felt weak and he would’ve fallen if it wasn’t for Richie wrapping him up in a hug. 

The hug took Eddie by surprise as did the pain spreading through his body, all the way from his head to the tips of his fingers. Over Richie’s shoulder, Eddie was able to see the people in the stands and he frowned. He could tell they were clapping and cheering loudly, probably over the fact that he hadn’t died, but the sound was muffled, like there were cotton balls inside his ears. Eddie guessed the explosion must have affected his hearing. Yet another thing Madame Pomfrey would have to fix. 

“What happened?” Eddie asked. 

“What happened?!” Richie repeated, shocked. He gripped Eddie’s shoulders and held him at arm's length, so that he could stare at him in disbelief. “You defeated a chimaera, is what happened!” 

The mention of the creature made Eddie turn around, expecting to find it there, waiting to attack them, but instead he saw its unconscious body lying on the ground. 

He had done that. Eddie had bested a chimaera and lived to tell the story. Sure, he was burned and bruised and he ached all over, but at least he wasn’t the one who had been knocked out by an explosion.  

“Does that mean we won?” 

“We need to find the scroll first, Eds.” Richie said.

The two of them looked around as if expecting to find the scroll just lying there. Instead, Eddie caught sight of something from the corner of his eye and his head snapped in the direction of the movement, his senses still on high alert.

Richie frowned and looked in the same direction, finding nothing there. “What is it, Eds?”

“I- I could’ve sworn I saw something.” Eddie muttered, before the same thing caught his eye again. “There!” He said, pointing in that direction. “There’s something there.”

“Another creature?” Richie wondered. 

“Impossible. We defeated the chimaera. That was the task and we did it.” Eddie said, shaking his head. He narrowed his eyes, hoping it would help him see whatever was there. It couldn’t be another creature. Those weren’t the rules. 

But Eddie was wrong, because a second later, something materialized in front of them. Eddie had seen it before, in one of the many books he had read in the past few weeks. It was bigger than he expected, with long silky hair and large, black eyes that stared curiously at them. 

“A Demiguise.” Richie muttered under his breath, just as confused as Eddie. “Are we supposed to fight it? Because I don’t want to. It looks old and fragile. It would be like fighting some monkey’s grandpa.”

As if understanding Richie’s words, the creature pulled a golden scroll from under its pelt and held it out, taunting them. But when Richie and Eddie moved forward, the Demiguise stepped back and hid the scroll from view. 

“Maybe we  _ do  _ have to fight it to get the scroll.” Eddie said and lifted his wand. He didn’t want to attack it, they were supposed to be peaceful creatures and Richie was right, it looked old and weak. Eddie sighed, he didn’t have much of a choice if he wanted to get the scroll. 

“ _ Expelliarmus _ !” He yelled, but something curious happened. Right before Eddie cast the spell, the creature’s eyes turned a brilliant blue and it jumped on a rock just as the small flash of white light that was the disarming spell, hit the place where the it had been standing seconds ago.  

Eddie repeated the action. He didn’t want to hurt the Demiguise, he just wanted the scroll to fly out of its reach so that Richie and him could get it, but it wasn’t working.

The Demiguise seemed to know what Eddie was going to do before Eddie himself did. Everytime he cast a spell, the creature’s eyes turned blue and he jumped out of the way or turned invisible only to materialize again somewhere else. It had Eddie running around in circles and he knew he looked stupid, like a dog chasing its tail. It was getting tiring too and Eddie was about to give up and abandon the task due to exhaustion, when Richie jumped in the air and tackled the Demiguise, surprising both Eddie and the creature.  

Richie’s arms wrapped around its body and when it turned invisible, it looked like he was holding nothing but air, but Richie never let go even as the Demiguise struggle to get free, before finally resigning and going limp on Richie’s arms, materializing again, along with the scroll. Richie grabbed it and let go of the creature, but not before it could bite his hand.

“Bloody hell!” Richie shrieked, holding his injured hand against his chest, the scroll falling to the ground next to him. “And to think I was going to apologize for tackling you, you evil monkey!” He screamed at the creature as it scurried away before turning invisible, disappearing from their sight.

Eddie rushed towards Richie and fell on his knees next to him. “What were you thinking?!” 

Richie, who had been sucking on his injured thumb, removed his hand from his mouth and shrugged. “I wasn’t.” He said. “That was the whole point.”

Eddie frowned. “What?”

“The Demiguise have precognitive sight. It knew what spell you were going to cast before you even thought about it.” Richie explained. “The only way to get them is to do something unpredictable, so I didn’t think, I just acted.” 

Eddie stared at him and he surprised himself by letting out a bark of laughter. “That’s crazy. You’re crazy.” Eddie told him and he saw Richie recoil at the comment. His face softened. “Crazy genius, that is.” 

Richie grinned and looked down, his eyes finding the scroll. He lifted it with his uninjured hand and as he did, a canon went off, signaling the end of the first task. The people in the stands erupted into cheers and Eddie let out a sigh of relief.  

“We did it.” Eddie laughed in amazement, finding it hard to believe. “We  _ fucking  _ did it.”

Richie chuckled. “And it wasn’t even that hard.” 

-

**Richie**

As they left the arena, Richie had the scroll in one hand and Eddie’s hand in the other. He tucked the scroll into his clothes, deciding they could look at it later. Right now, both were battered and bruised, nearly dead from exhaustion. Eddie looked ready to pass out but they both shared the same excited expression. They had actually done it! Completed the first task as a team. Richie was elated, especially when he looked over and saw that Eddie's face was sporting a huge grin.

As soon as they left the arena someone barreled into Eddie, knocking him over. 

“You guys were bloody amazing!” Bev said from on top of Eddie, grinning down at him. “That trick with the rocks! I was on the edge of my seat!!” 

“Bev, get off.” Eddie groaned. Richie looked to see that all their friends were waiting for them, Stan and Mike slightly off to the side and Ben near Bev. They all looked thrilled and Richie’s heart soared even more. 

Beverly did get off, still talking excitedly. “And then, you!” She turned to Richie, “Wrestling a demiguise? No one else did that. Bloody amazing, both of you!” 

“What did the others do?” Richie asked, trying to adjust his glasses so the crack wasn’t in his way. But he soon gave up, it was impossible. He leaned down to offer Eddie a hand as he stood, brushing dirt off his clothes. 

“Well,” Stan started. “The Americans had some trouble at the start, one of them clearly hates spiders. She was useless, mostly hiding behind her girlfriend. The second one put the spider to sleep.”

“The demiguise gave them more trouble.” Mike continued. “They spent a lot of time trying to trick it but it didn’t work. Finally they both hit it with different spells and ended up freezing it in place- and turning it pink, weirdly enough. Then they grabbed the scroll.”

“The twins had a great technique.” Ben said, admirably. “They accio’ed some of the musk for the erumpent, doing that mating dance that we looked up- do you remember it?” Richie shook his head. “We studied it one night, you were probably distracted. So one of them distracted him and the other-” Ben broke out laughing, and Bev joined.

“What? What?” Richie asked looked at his friends. 

“The other twin just walked up to the demiguise and started to pet it. She was cooing at it, talking to it.” Mike said, also smiling. “It must have shocked him so much that he didn’t even think about disappearing. It was pretty amazing.”

Richie’s smile fell. “Sounds like they got through it quick then.” He said, glancing at Eddie. If the other teams moved so quickly he was worried what it meant for them. He wasn’t sure how long it had taken them, it had felt like hours but was probably closer to twenty or thirty minutes. Still much slower than the others. 

“You two had style though!” Bev said. “Scores are being announced now, let’s go back up.” Bev said, her enthusiasm unwavering but Richie saw her exchange a look with Ben that seemed to agree with Richie’s statement. 

Eddie and Richie nodded, letting everyone lead them to the stands. Now on the outside, Richie could see how big it had been, the jagged rocks and dips looked much scarier from up here. The monsters had already been cleared but it was still a formidable area. He again felt proud of the two of them for defeating the chimaera, even if he hadn’t helped much. 

“Here is the standing, after the end of round one. We won’t be releasing scores yet, just places.” Percy said from a platform on the other side, his voice magically amplified. Richie could see the other judges behind him. He looked around at the crowd, seeing the twins, who gave him a small wave. He frowned slightly. They were practically unscathed, whereas he and Eddie looked like they had been through war. 

He turned his head and found the Americans, who also waved at him, smiling. They looked a little rough at least but still, he and Eddie had definitely fared the worst. 

“In third place, after the first task, Hogwarts.” Richie’s heart sank. He looked at Eddie, who seemed shocked and angry. “In second place, Ilvermorny and in first place, Castelobruxo!” The students from Castelobruxo erupted into cheers and Richie saw several professors walk over to congratulate them.

“The second task will take place in January. The scrolls you retrieved will give you important clues for what to expect. Until then, good luck!” Percy said, stepping back as he finished his speech.

“Fucking unbelievable!” Eddie said, turning to the group. “They didn’t tell us that there was a demiguise! How we were supposed to prepare?! We got a much harder creature than the others too, chimaeras are categorized as extremely dangerous and the others are just dangerous!” Richie could tell that Eddie was working himself into a huff and was about to respond when another voice entered the fray. 

“Wow Tozier, already proving that you’re useless.” Richie heard from behind him. “You froze in there, letting your little Slytherin boyfriend do all the work. Thought Ravenclaws were supposed to be clever.” He turned and Henry was there, with his goons, grinning broadly. “Instead you froze and his best idea was to make rocks fall. You’re both pathetic. I can’t believe the cup picked you to represent our school.”

Richie’s hands curled into fists. “Take it back!” He said, his voice cold. Henry just laughed.

“What? Are you upset that I insulted your little boy toy? We all know you’re not actually dating- though you should be, the dumb Ravenclaw and the scared Slytherin, it’s a perfect match.”

“Fuck you.” Richie said. 

Henry looked at his friends, gesturing to Richie. “Such eloquence from the misfit ravenclaw. You’re a joke- and so is he. We’re in last place because of you fags.” 

“TAKE IT BACK!” Richie screamed, launching himself at Henry, his hands outstretched.

Only to be stopped by two other pairs of hands. He turned and saw that Mike and Ben were holding him and he struggled to break free. “Let me go!” He yelled at them.

Henry laughed again. “Your friends are trying to protect you and the stupid twink.” He said. “They know you’re no match for me.”

“I’ll fucking show you, I’m more than a match.” Richie spat out, still struggling against his friends. 

“Oh? Like you showed that chimaera? Better make sure Eddie is there to protect you.” 

“Just name the time and-” Richie growled but was interrupted as Flitwick strolled over.

“Everything alright students?” He asked, clearing aware that it wasn’t.

“Yes professor.” Eddie said, stepping forward. He put a hand on Richie’s arm. “We’re fine, right?” 

Richie looked from his hand to Eddie’s expression and nodded. “Yes sir, we’re fine.”

Flitwick nodded, his mustache bobbing. “Good, good. You boys best go to Madame Pomfrey for those injuries.” He said, leaving no room to argue.

Both boys nodded, “Yes professor.” Richie said as Ben and Mike released him. Flitwick wandered off and Richie glared at Henry once more, ready to say something, but Eddie gave his arm a slight squeeze.

“Come on Richie,” He said, gently slipping his hand into Richie’s.

“Yea Richie, better follow your boyfriend. Don’t want to get hurt anymore today.” Henry said. 

Richie tensed but Eddie squeezed his hand and lead him away. “You guys did great,” Ben said as they walked away. “You were a better team than the others, don’t let the scores get you down.” 

“That’s true!” Bev added, nodding. “You talked more than anyone else, and worked together- that has to be worth something.” 

Richie appreciated their friends trying to improve his and Eddie’s sour moods but he couldn’t join them. “Thanks guys.” He said, “I think Eddie and I had better go up alone- you know how Pomfrey hates visitors.” 

It seemed like their friends wanted to argue but Eddie spoke up. “We’ll see all of you later, at the party.” The students were all throwing a party in the Gryffindor common room, to celebrate the first task ending. All the students from the schools were invited and Richie had been excited about it. Now though, he mostly wanted to hide. He and Eddie had messed up and gotten last, he wasn’t sure he could face everyone. If he was lucky, Pomfrey would insist he stay overnight. 

Their friends nodded, again saying that they did fantastic and should be proud, then left. The two tiredly climbed the stairs to the hospital wing.

“That demiguise was bullshit.” Eddie repeated, clearly still angry. “They didn’t warn us!” 

Richie nodded halfheartedly. “You did great though Eds, really, without your quick thinking I’d be dead.” 

Eddie looked at him, seeming surprised. “We both did great.” He said, “Your trick to get the scroll? That was brilliant!” 

Richie scoffed. “My lack of thinking? I’m sure I wowed the judges there.” 

Eddie stopped in his tracks, looking at Richie. He stopped too. “What?” He asked.

Eddie shook his head. “You can’t let those assholes get to you. You’re better than that. You did great today. We both did.” 

Richie opened his mouth then closed it, fiddling with his glasses. “Whatever Eds, you carried the team. I just stood there with broken glasses and then tackled a disappearing monkey.”

Eddie’s hand darted out and adjusted Richie’s glasses tenderly, before running a finger along the sides of them. Richie froze, confused, not wanting to ruin the moment. “You really do need them? I always thought they were for show.” 

Richie chuckled and nodded. “I do. It’s stupid, I know I could get my eyes fixed with magic but-” He brought his hand up and took them off, looking down at his broken frames. “They remind me that I’m muggle born. I don’t want to leave all of that life behind, you know.” He ran a finger over the cracked frame. “But maybe this is a dumb reminder.”

“It’s not.” Eddie said, gently taking the glasses from him. “ _ Oculus Reparo _ !” He said, fixing them before placing them back on Richie’s face. “It’s not stupid.” His hand briefly brushed Richie’s cheek and he smiled.

Richie swallowed. “Well, um, thanks.” He said stupidly, fiddling unnecessarily with the frames. He wanted to add more but he didn’t know how to put into words what he was feeling, what he wanted to say to Eddie. Instead he said, “Let’s keep going, aye?” Eddie nodded. 

They walked to the infirmary, where Pomfrey fussed over both of them, fixing them up and restoring Eddie’s hearing. They were there for hours and she finally left them alone, but not before insisting they remain overnight. Richie was relieved but Eddie seemed disappointed, he kept arguing with her, insisting he was fine. 

Once she left, Eddie appeared at Richie’s bed, perching on the edge. “This is unnecessary.” He said. He had a small bandage over his burns, letting the magic heal them. “We’re both fine.”

Richie shrugged, not minding the excuse to miss the party or to spend the evening alone with Eddie. “She’s always like this.” 

Eddie nodded, still seeming annoyed. He looked and his bandages and sighed. “As long as we’re here, let’s take a crack at the scroll.”

Richie had completely forgotten about the next clue in the aftermath of Henry and then Eddie. He pulled it out and examined it. It had wooden ends and was tightly wrapped with a wax seal bearing the goblet of fire. He broke the seal and paused as Eddie moved next to him so they could see it together. Richie wasn’t sure if his heart was pounding from the excitement of the scroll or from having Eddie pressed next to him.

“Let’s see this clue.” He said. Both leaned in as he pulled the paper down. 

There was nothing there. The paper was blank. Richie flipped it to the other side. Also blank.

“Bloody hell!”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He sighed, exasperated. “Damn it, Richie. How am I supposed to figure this out if you’re breathing down my neck?” Eddie turned to face him. “I can’t even smell the potion because all I get is the smell of your damn cologne! It’s too strong!” He complained, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Eddie

The day after the first task, Eddie woke up in the infirmary to see that Richie was already gone. The two of them had spent most of their night on Richie’s bed, having their own little party, which consisted mostly of Eddie complaining about the judges’ need to make things more complicated for them.

“Why couldn’t they just give us the damn clue, already?” Eddie had said, exasperated. “We fought a chimaera, we tricked a demiguise. I think we deserve a break.”

Richie had shrugged and tried calming Eddie down, assuring him that they had enough time to figure out the clue before the second task came around. They had gone to sleep shortly after that, exhausted after the day they had. 

Eddie had expected to wake up and find Richie on the bed next to his, and if he was being honest with himself, he had been looking forward to it. 

When Madame Pomfrey had advised them to stay overnight, Eddie had argued that it was unnecessary, but now, he was glad she did it. Richie had been the only company Eddie had needed the night before. Sure, he had missed his friends but there was only so much cheerfulness and encouraging words he could handle. He knew they meant well, but only Richie understood how he felt about their performance and the fact that they were now on third place. 

Eddie was dragged out of his thoughts when Madame Pomfrey drew the curtains of his bed. “Good morning, Mr. Kaspbrak. I thought I would have to use some Wideye Potion to wake you up.”

He frowned, confused. “For how long was I asleep?”

“Close to fifteen hours.” She said, and Eddie’s eyes widened. To him it felt like he had gone to sleep just a couple of hours ago. “It didn’t come of as a surprise with what they put you boys through. Students fighting a chimaera?” She huffed. “Unbelievable. This tournament is a bad idea. It will bring this school nothing but grief, just like the last one.” Madame Pomfrey sighed, shaking her head. Eddie stayed silent as she checked the burns, they were mostly gone, and they didn’t hurt anymore. “These are healing nicely, they should be gone by the end of the week. You were very lucky.”

“Thank you, Madame Pomfrey.” Eddie said, with a tight smile as she reapplied the bandages. “I don’t- I won’t have to stay here until the end of the week though, will I?”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You won’t if you promise to come back in two days so I can make sure everything is in order.” 

“Yes ma’am. I will.” 

“And bring Mr. Tozier with you. I want to check that nasty bite and make sure it won’t fester.” 

Eddie nodded. “Did he say anything before leaving?”

Madame Pomfrey shook her head. “Not to me, but he seemed upset after a visit from his friend, Mr. Uris. That is why I don’t allow visitors. It interferes with the patients’ rest. But I had no other reason to keep him here so I let him go a couple of hours ago.”

Eddie frowned. Richie had been fine the night before, sure after his run in with Henry he had been hurt but Eddie thought he had managed to convince him he had done well. If it wasn’t for Richie, Eddie would’ve been dead, burned to a crisp by the chimaera, and they wouldn’t have the scroll, useless as it was without any words written on it. Eddie never would’ve made it on his own, no matter what Henry Bowers had to say and if he had to repeat it to Richie over and over again for him to understand, he would. 

After Madame Pomfrey deemed him in good enough conditions to leave the infirmary, he went looking for Richie. First, he searched the Great Hall, lunch was just wrapping up and only a few people were left at the tables but Richie wasn’t one of them.

Next, he headed for the Ravenclaw tower, where he ran into Dustin just outside the Common Room. Eddie asked him to check if Richie was inside but he wasn’t there either. 

Then he wandered around the castle, searching for dark curls and thick glasses but Richie was nowhere to be found.

Eventually, he found himself on the seventh floor, walking the corridor in front of the Room of Requirement, where he and Richie had spent most of their time during the past few weeks. An idea popped in his head. 

“Of course.” Eddie muttered, before walking in front of the hidden entrance three times, thinking about the room they had been using to do research and practice spells together. The door appeared and he went inside and found Richie standing in the center of the room, throwing spells at a dummy. 

“ _ Expelliarmus _ !” Richie yelled and there was frustration in his voice. The dummy reeled back slightly from the force of the spell. Richie hit it again with another one, right away. “ _ Flipendo _ !”

“What did he do to make you this angry?” Eddie asked and watched as Richie startled and turned around, wand raised. Eddie lifted his hands in defense. “Easy there.”

“Eds.” Richie breathed out. “You shouldn’t sneak up on a wizard whose wand is drawn.”

“You’re right. I wouldn’t want to end up like that dummy.” Eddie chuckled, expecting Richie to join in but he only stared at Eddie, face blank. Well, that was unusual. “Are you okay, Richie?”

Richie offered him a smile, but it was a weak one. “I’m great, Eddie. Just great.”

Eddie cocked his head to the side, studying Richie. It was clear he wasn’t okay, but Eddie didn’t want to push it. 

“Was yesterday not enough fighting for you?”

Richie scoffed. “I didn’t do much fighting, did I?” He flopped down on a couch and ran his hands through his hair. “According to this,” He continued, grabbing a newspaper from the floor and handing it over to Eddie, “All I did was have my ass saved by you and jump the Demiguise at the end.”

Eddie frowned, grabbing the paper, it was the morning edition of the Daily Prophet and the front page depicted a picture of the six champions together at the tent, the day before. Eddie opened the paper to find an article that covered the events of the first task. He skimmed over the text until he found the part that spoke about him and Richie and read it out loud. 

_ “And in third place was Hogwarts’ team who had to face a dangerous chimaera, but it was Mr. Eddie Kaspbrak, son of the late, famous Quidditch player Frank Kaspbrak, who carried the feat on his shoulder. He fought courageously, saving his partner, Mr. Richie Tozier in the process and in the end, defeated the vicious creature with a grand explosion, a move that had the audience holding their breath as they waited to see if he made it out alive. He did and while bruised and battered, he and Mr. Tozier had to best a Demiguise to get the scroll that would give them a clue for the second task. It was Mr. Tozier who jumped the creature and ended their first task amidst laughter from the crowd as he wrestled their opponent into submission.”  _ Eddie finished reading the paragraph and pursed his lips, while it wasn’t bad, he could see why Richie was upset over it. 

Eddie sighed. “Richie-”

“So apparently now I’m not only Ravenclaw’s joke but also the entire wizarding world’s.” Richie said, laughing humorlessly. “Because, according to them, I did nothing worth mentioning yesterday, but make a fool out of myself.”

“Richie that is  _ not  _ true.” Eddie said, fervently. He sat next to Richie on the couch and put a hand on his knee. “The article- it might not put you in the best light but you’re not a fool. And you’re not a joke.”

“Tell that to Greta, and to Henry, who have been calling me that for the past six years. It turns out, they were right after all.” 

“They were not.” Eddie said, shaking his head. He grabbed Richie’s hand, squeezing it comfortingly. “You’re so smart, Richie. You belong in Ravenclaw, alright? And Henry Bowers and Greta Bowie are idiots for saying the opposite.” 

Richie sighed. “Thank you, Eds, but- it’s not just them.” He grabbed the paper and looked at it again, jaw tightening. “Now everyone thinks that.”

“I don’t.” Eddie supplied. “Your friends don’t. And you shouldn’t either.” He didn’t know what else he could say to convince Richie that he wasn’t a joke, that he was smart and skilled and a great wizard. He didn’t understand why he needed so badly for Richie to understand what Eddie was saying, he just did. “The article had it all wrong, Rich. It was you who saved me.”

Richie huffed, clearly disagreeing. 

“Damn it, Rich.” Eddie let go of Richie’s hand in favor of cradling his face, forcing Richie to look him in the eye. His eyes widened comically behind his glasses at the gesture and Eddie could see how his eyes strayed to Eddie’s lips when he talked again. “You  _ did  _ save my life, with that water spell. I would be nothing but a pile of ashes if you hadn’t come to my rescue.” 

Richie sighed and Eddie felt his breath hit face, which made him realize just how close they were. It made him feel dizzy and his stomach to fill with butterflies. He didn’t want to move, didn’t want to ruin the moment. The moment he had started on the first place. 

But apparently Richie did. “I always knew you were too hot for your own good, Eds.” He said, but the joke lacked its usual confidence. He kept wringing his hands together in his lap, nervous. “It was only a matter of time before you caught in flames.”

Eddie rolled his eyes. He let go of Richie’s face, the tension disappearing. “I meant what I said.”

“I know.” Richie told him. “And I’m trying to believe you, I am, but after yesterday, it’s not that easy. Especially, when I know for a fact that I couldn’t have done what you did. Fight the chimaera, defeat it.” 

Eddie pursed his lips, considering what to say next. Part of him knew Richie was right, even if they had just gotten to know each other recently, Eddie had been studying Richie for a long time, even without him noticing it, and he had seen Richie in Charms class. Suffice to say, it wasn’t his strongest suit. He excelled at Potions but when it came to remembering spells and the correct way to cast them, Richie would often get confused and end up with nothing but white sparks coming out of his wand. Eddie knew that wasn’t something to be ashamed of, everyone had their strengths and their weaknesses, Eddie’s being Potions, but that wasn’t what Richie needed to hear. 

“Then let’s make sure that next time, you can.” Eddie said, standing up and offering his hand and a smile to Richie. “I’m sure I can be a better dueling partner than that dummy.” 

Richie took the hand and gave Eddie a smile and this time, it was a real one. “You’re certainly cuter.”

-

“Good morning, students. Today our class is going to be slightly different than normal.” Slughorn said, as soon as the last student walked into the Potions classroom. That student turned out to be Richie, who quietly slipped into his seat next to Eddie.

“Hey Eds.” He whispered, throwing a wink at Eddie, who scowled at him in return for being late, as usual. They had started sitting together in class after Eddie admitted he was useless when it came to potions and that he could use Richie’s help. 

“You’re late. Again.” Eddie muttered as Slughorn explained what they would be doing today. There were at least a dozen cauldrons displayed on the different work tables. They were all supposed to pair up and move around the room, figuring out which potion was inside each cauldron based on smell, aspect and list of ingredients. 

“Sorry, Eds. I fell asleep.”

Eddie rolled his eyes. “No, you didn’t, I saw you at breakfast less than an hour ago. You were wide awake.”

“Are you keeping tabs on me now?” Richie said, with a waggle of his eyebrows. 

Eddie huffed and felt grateful for the darkness of the dungeons when he felt himself starting to blush. He ignored Richie’s question and turned his attention back to the professor. 

“Please choose your partner and stand in front of any of the cauldrons. You will have three minutes in each station. I’ll let you know when you can begin.” Slughorn said, pulling out a pocket watch. 

“Wanna be my partner, Eds?” Richie asked, excitedly. 

Eddie pretended to think it over, pursing his lips and even tapping his chin, but there wasn’t anyone in this class he would rather pair up with. Maybe if Beverly had been here, but she despised potions and had ducked out of it as soon as she was given a chance. Besides, he was getting used to working with Richie, after the time they had spent together practicing for the first task and then after, as they tried to figure out the clue for the second one. Not to mention, he was good with potions, so it wouldn’t hurt to have him as his partner. 

Of course it didn’t have anything to do with the fact that Eddie now lived for the time he spent with Richie or that he kept looking for excuses to be with him, so much that even their friends had been growing closer with how much they hung out together. Eddie told himself it wasn’t odd that Beverly and him now ate most of their meals at the Ravenclaw table with Stan and Richie or that whenever he had some free time he would drag Richie to the Room of Requirement under the pretense of practicing or doing research. 

He definitely didn’t find it weird that he missed Richie during the classes that they didn’t share or that he now looked forward to Potions class, knowing Richie would be there. And he  _ definitely  _ didn’t find it weird how he had to fight a blush whenever Richie sat down particularly close to him or how his fingers tingled where they touched Richie’s whenever they reached for the same ingredient at the same time. There was nothing weird about  _ that _ . 

Beverly often teased him about it, saying Eddie had a crush on Richie, but she was wrong. Eddie wasn’t crushing on Richie. Richie was annoying and loud and a shameless flirt. That hadn’t changed since Eddie had gotten to know him. But since then, Eddie had realized Richie was other things as well. He was smart, in an unconventional way. He was genuinely funny, when he wasn’t making inappropriate comments about someone’s mother. And he was nice, he didn’t tease Eddie in the slightest when he asked for his help with potions and rushed to his aid, no questions asked. So yeah, Richie wasn’t as bad as he used to think, but that didn’t mean Eddie had a crush on him. Beverly was just being silly. 

“Eds?” Richie asked when Eddie didn’t give him an answer for a couple of minutes. Eddie had spaced out and forgotten the question. The silence made Richie’s expression fall and he ducked his head. “If you don’t want to be my partner that’s fine. I can-” 

“Shut up.” Eddie interrupted, harsher than he intended. He softened his voice before speaking again. “I mean, I’m already stuck with you for the tournament, what harm is a little Potions class?” He said, but he offered Richie a small smile. 

Richie smiled back. “Sweet. Come on, partner.” He grabbed Eddie’s hand and dragged him to one of the tables.

When everyone had found their places, Slughorn spoke again. “Very well then, students. Your time starts now.”

Eddie stood on his tiptoes to look inside the cauldron, where a yellow-colored potion was brewing, occasionally releasing sparks. He was grabbing the list of ingredients to read them over and see if he could figure out what the potion was, when Richie spoke. 

“It’s the Volubilis Potion.” He said with certainty, just by peeking inside the pot. 

Eddie gawked at him. “But- that’s. How did you-”

“Know?” Richie finished, then he shrugged. “It’s easy. I’ve brewed it before, after Greta put a Silencing Charm on me, when I was in fourth year. If you drink it, it restores your voice.”

Eddie cocked his head to the side. “Greta did that?” He asked softly and Richie nodded. He reminded himself to hit her extra hard with a spell in their next Defense Against the Dark Arts class. 

Slughorn signaled the end of their three minutes and Eddie hurriedly scribbled down the name of the potion as they moved to the next table. 

This time they weren’t even close enough to see the potion, when Richie blurted out. “It’s Draught of Peace.”

Eddie spluttered. “You didn’t even see it!” He accused, voice higher than usual.

“I didn’t have to, see that light silver vapor coming out of the cauldron? That’s enough to tell.”

“Come on, really? How can you be so sure?” Eddie asked, raising an eyebrow at him in disbelief. 

“How can you not? We studied it last year. It’s a potion that relieves anxiety and agitation. You should grab some while we’re at it.” Richie explained, winking at Eddie at the end of the sentence. 

Eddie scoffed. Then he wrote down the name of the potion, muttering under his breath. “Damn show off.”

Richie simply chuckled. 

They moved from table to table and each time, Richie would guess the potion before Eddie could even begin to think what it could be. It was getting really annoying. Sure, Eddie was glad they were going to nail the assignment but he didn’t like feeling useless and watching Richie do all the work, made him feel that way. 

Which is why when Richie opened his mouth to undoubtedly say the name of the last potion, Eddie stopped him. 

“No!” Eddie said, loudly enough for everyone else to turn and give him a strange look, even Slughorn. Richie raised an amused eyebrow at him. He lowered his voice before he continued. “I’ll figure this one out. I’m not entirely useless at this, you know.”

“Eds, I never-” Richie started but Eddie shushed him.

Richie shrugged and moved away from the cauldron so that Eddie could look inside. The potion had a mother-of-pearl sheen that Eddie had never seen before and steam was rising from it in spirals. Eddie was sure those were distinct characteristics that had been enough for Richie to figure it out but to Eddie they just made it look pretty. He moved closer to see if he recognized the scent. 

And recognize it he did. But not as any potion he had ever brewed or that Slughorn had brought to class for a demonstration. It smelled like the wood from a broom handle and the cherry pastries that Beverly brought back from her home after every summer and the pine tree his parents used to conjure to adorn their house on Christmas. 

There was another smell and Eddie moved closer to try and figure it out. It was a fresh, clean smell that he couldn’t quite place. 

It wasn’t until Eddie caught Richie moving closer out of the corner of his eye, that he figured out what the smell was. 

He sighed, exasperated. “Damn it, Richie. How am I supposed to figure this out if you’re breathing down my neck?” Eddie turned to face him. “I can’t even smell the potion because all I get is the smell of your damn cologne! It’s too strong!” He complained, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Richie’s eyes widened comically behind his glasses, then they alternated between staring at the potion and staring at Eddie in shock. 

“What?” Eddie asked, confused by Richie’s expression. 

“Eddie, that’s- uh.” Richie faltered, he bit his lip nervously, choosing to stay quiet. 

Eddie exaggeratedly rolled his eyes. “Yes, I know you know what it is. And you’re dying to tell me! But I said I wanted to figure it out! I can do it!”

But just as he said that, Slughorn spoke. 

“Time’s up.” He said and with that, he raised his wand and everyone’s parchments flew from their hands to Slughorn’s, giving Richie and Eddie no time to write down the name of the last potion. 

“This is your fault!” Eddie said, rounding on Richie. His shock seemed to have disappeared but he was still looking at Eddie funny. 

“My fault? You said you wanted to figure it out alone!” 

“And I would’ve if you hadn’t been distracting me.” Eddie said, crossing his arms. Richie gaped at him, incredulous. “You did, with your hovering and- and your cologne.”

“Eddie I-” Richie cut himself off with a sigh. “If you had just let me tell you. I knew what the potion was.” 

“Then why didn’t you write it down, Mr. Tozier?” Professor Slughorn said, approaching the two of them. “You and Mr. Kaspbrak named the other potions correctly. I was surprised that you didn’t know this one. It’s very popular.”

Richie nodded, agreeing with Slughorn and Eddie frowned, he still didn’t know which potion it was. 

“We ran out of time, professor.” Richie answered. 

“Very well. But since you did a brilliant job with the rest, I will let it slide if you tell me the name.”

Richie stayed silent. For someone who had been bragging about knowing which potion it was a minute ago he seemed reluctant to say the name now. He kept glancing nervously at Eddie, who in return elbowed him on the side, urging him to speak. 

“It’s uh- Amortentia, sir. The love potion.” 

Now it was Eddie’s turn to be shocked. His head snapped in Richie’s direction, but he was staring straight ahead, refusing to meet Eddie’s eyes. 

Richie had to be wrong. There was no way that potion was Amortentia because then it would mean-

Eddie looked at Slughorn, expecting him to correct Richie, but he was nodding and smiling proudly. 

“Ten points to Ravenclaw, Mr. Tozier.” He said. “And to Slytherin too. Good job, gentlemen.” Then he left them alone and an awkward silence fell on them. 

Eddie might not have known what Amortentia looked like but he certainly knew what it was and more importantly, he knew its smell was supposed to change depending on the person. Depending on what the person  _ liked _ . 

Eddie gulped. That meant the smell of Richie’s cologne that he thought had come from him and had been too strong for Eddie to smell anything else, actually came from the potion itself. Meaning-

No. It couldn’t mean that Eddie liked Richie because that wasn’t true. Eddie didn’t like Richie. He was annoying and vulgar. And sure he was nice and funny and cute but that didn’t mean-

Well,  _ shit _ . 

“I have to go.” Eddie muttered. Now he was the one avoiding Richie’s eyes. He searched his brain for an excuse to leave. He didn’t have class next and Richie knew this. “I have uh- I need. Quidditch practice, yeah. So, uh, later.”

Not giving Richie enough time to say anything, he fled the classroom and the dungeons and then the castle. He found himself in the training grounds even if he didn’t really have Quidditch practice. There, he sat down on the grass, and put his head in his hands. 

It didn’t matter how far away from Richie he ran, he couldn’t run away from the truth. He liked Richie Tozier. Deep down he had known it, but he had chosen to ignore his intrusive thoughts and Beverly’s taunts and Ben’s knowing looks but there was no way he could ignore the fact that magic itself had told Eddie that he liked Richie. 

Eddie groaned, hoping no one was around to hear him. He was utterly and completely fucked. 

-

Richie

“You two need to get along, both of you are here to stay.” Richie told Cheddar, his rat, and Sir Fluffer, the tiny chimera, as they circled each other in the cage, both hissing unhappily. Richie had found out that after the tournament the mintatures were unmagicked, so basically killed, and had asked to keep theirs. He was trying to teach him to get along with his rat, which wasn’t going well, but he wanted something to remember the tournament by once it was over. 

Especially since it was looking less and less likely that he would have Eddie as a friend by the end of it. He had been avoiding Richie all week, since he rushed out of potions class. Richie tried not to think about why. The look on Eddie’s face when he realized what the potion was said it all. Eddie might like Richie but he certainly wasn’t happy about it. The way he ran out of the room and his refusal to look Richie in the eye proved it. 

Now, Eddie was acting like he didn’t exist. He would turn around when they were in the same hall or duck into a room. Richie didn’t bother trying to catch him. He wasn’t interesting in chasing Eddie if he didn’t want to be caught. 

“How’s the clue going?” Mike asked over lunch. 

Richie shrugged. “Same blank bloody piece of paper as before.” He replied, stuffing pumpkin cookies into his mouth. 

“You need to figure it out, you’re running out of time.” Stan told him sternly. “The task is going to be here before you know it.”

Richie waved him off, grabbing another cookie. To his surprise Mike nodded in agreement with Richie. “They need to worry about the Yule Ball first anyway. You two are still going together, right?”

Richie responded by choking on his cookie. It took several firm thwacks from Mike before he could breathe again and several more minutes before he could speak. 

“Yule Ball?” He gasped out, red faced.

“You forgot?” Stan said, sounding unsurprised. “You’re a champion, you have to go- both of you. And the wizarding world still thinks you’re dating, even if you two refuse to look each other in the eye.” Stan told him, completely unsympathetic. 

“Thanks Captain Obvious.” Richie muttered, causing Stan to cock his head and look at Mike.

“Aren’t Captains on ships?” Richie heard him whisper to Mike as he stood. Richie looked at the Slytherin table, where Eddie was laughing at a story Ben was telling. He clenched his fists and walked over. They needed to talk, especially about the upcoming dance. Richie was sick of this avoidance game. Bev noticed him first, poking Eddie in the side. Eddie's head whipped to him and he turned bright red, starting to shove his books in his bag. 

But Richie reached him first. “Can we talk?” Richie asked, hanging a hand on his neck. This felt like less of a good idea now that he was at the table. 

Eddie opened his mouth but Bev answered first, “Yes, he’d love to talk to you.” Eddie glared at her but she shrugged, turning back to her dinner.

“Eds?” Richie asked, watching Eddie weigh his options. He must have decided that it was too embarrassing to say no now because he nodded. 

“Let’s walk.” He said, leading them out of the dining hall.

Once they were alone Richie spoke first, not wanting to hear whatever excuse Eddie would offer. “Look, I know you hate me and that you’re upset right now but you can’t freeze me out. We have to figure out this bloody clue- then complete two more tasks. And the Yule Ball is coming.” It had been moved up to earlier in December so students who went home for break could still attend, giving them even less time.  

Eddie, who looked like he had a speech prepared until the last sentence, let his mouth fall open. Richie took it as a chance to keep talking. “And people will expect us to go together. We don’t have to, I’m sure you already have a date-”

“I don’t.” Eddie interrupted. “Have one. Do you?”

Richie shook his head. “No one wants to go with Ravenclaw’s disgrace.” 

Eddie’s expression softened. “Don’t call yourself that.”

“Everyone else does.” Richie said, holding his hand up as Eddie started to respond. “Don’t. That’s not the point. We need dates to the yule ball. And I, at least, need dance lessons since we’re expected to lead this.” The tradition that the champions and their dates lead the dancing hadn't died out, much to Richie’s annoyance. 

“Do you- we should go together, right?” Eddie said slowly. “Since we’re supposed to be dating and all.”

“Don’t sound so excited.” Richie said, trying to joke. 

“I didn’t mean it like that.” Eddie said. “I just meant-” 

Richie waved away the rest of Eddie’s explanation. “Great, we'll be the cutest non-couple couple there. Any ideas for dancing?”

“Yes, actually.” 

\------

“This bloody sucks.” Richie mumbled for the third time.

“That’s because you’re staring at Eddie instead of paying attention to your feet placement.” Audra said, taking Richie’s chin and directing his face to hers. “Focus.” Richie had been practicing with her all afternoon. She seemed to have infinite patience but he was sure he was nearing the end of it. 

Richie furrowed his brows. “I’m not staring at him.” He said, turning his head back towards Eddie and Bill, who were leaning in close and laughing. Eddie’s hand was in Bill’s and Bill’s arm wrapped around Eddie’s waist. Jealousy curled in Richie, threatening to lash out and he glared at Bill. 

“It’s fine, he’s staring at you too.” Audra told him, smiling a little. “You two belong together, you’re both just stubborn as hippogriffs.” 

“I am not.” Richie told her, glancing once more at Eddie, who seemed to be doing his best to ignore Richie. “Was he really staring?” He asked, cringing at how pitiful he sounded. 

She laughed, it was lighthearted and judgement free. Richie could see why people liked her so much. “Every time you turn away he looks. It’s like a brilliant game of chess.” 

“And I’m the pawn.” Richie said sulkily, resisting the urge to look again. 

She shook her head. “No,” Her hands flattened his shirt and she smiled at him. “You, Richie, you’re a  _ knight _ . You just need the right dragon to slay.”

That drew a reluctant smile out of him. “You’re pretty smart, for a Gryffindor.” 

She laughed. “You’re pretty brave, for a Ravenclaw.” He chuckled too and she took the opportunity to take his hands again. “Now, pay attention. Pretend I’m Eddie if it helps. You need to learn this so you can perform it in front of the whole school and our guests.” 

Richie groaned. “Don’t remind me, please.” He heard Eddie’s laugh and started to turn, only to feel Audra’s firm grip.

“ _ Focus _ .” She told him. “You don’t need to worry about Bill, the boy is as straight as they come.  Believe me. Eddie is probably trying to make you jealous.”

“Well it’s working.” Richie said, then he grimaced. “Can we pretend I’m less of a sad sap?” He asked and she nodded.

“As long as you focus.” She told him. “Now, pay attention. It’s just four steps. You can learn this.” 

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Richie saw Eddie first, he was waiting outside, fiddling with his robes. He looked amazing in his midnight black robes with Slytherin green trim. He had done his hair into a fancy pompadour and it looked like he had some magical makeup on too, his face seemed to shimmer. 
> 
> In short, he looked, “Gorgeous.” Richie breathed, pausing to admire him. 
> 
> Eddie looked up and saw him, giving Richie a warm smile, a slight blush in his cheeks. “You look great Richie,” He said walking over to him.
> 
> “You too.” Richie said.

**Richie**

Richie ran a hand through his hair, undoing the last twenty minutes of magical fixing that he had tried. He couldn’t get it to sit the right way, it looked like he was trying too hard and, even though that was exactly the case, he didn’t want it to look like that. 

“What are you wearing?” Stan asked, walking into their room and looking at Richie in disgust. 

“My dress robes.” Richie said, looking down at his bright purple paisley robes with green trim. “What’s wrong with them?”

Stan grimaced. “You’re colorblind, right? You just never told me.”

“No?” Richie looked again, frowning slightly. He had liked his robes when he bought them back in fourth year. Sure, he had grown a bit since then so his bright pink converse stuck out the bottom of his hem but otherwise he was pleased with how he looked.

Stan just shook his head. “This is for your own good. And Eddie’s.” He muttered a spell Richie didn’t know and it modified his robes into a deep purple, almost black, with dark and embellished red trim. They also grew several inches longer so Richie’s shoes no longer poked out. When he lifted the hems he saw that his converse were now black with red stripes. 

“That’s better.” Stan said, looking pleased with himself. “No way Eddie was going to dance with you like that.”

“Stan, you’re a fashionista, who knew?” He looked at Stan’s robes, which were the traditional black with a ravenclaw blue trim. 

“Everyone with good taste.” He said, giving Richie a small smile that meant he was pleased with the compliment. 

“Are you nervous?” Richie asked him, messing with his hair again. Stan was going with Mike, by way of ‘oh, you aren’t going with anyone? Me either, gee, maybe we should go together.’ Richie had been calling it a date, which made Stan turn bright red every time.

“No, it’s just Mike. Why would I be nervous?”

“Because it’s a  _ date _ .” Richie said, enjoying the flush that covered Stan’s ears. 

“It’s not.” He mumbled, then looking at Richie, asked, “Are you?”

“Extremely.” Richie said honestly. He and Eddie had been talking and practicing again. Things were mostly back to normal, both ignoring what had happened in potions class. But tonight? It was just them, no spells or scrolls to hide behind, and they had to dance. Bill and Audra had been great teachers, Richie knew all the steps. He also knew that doing them with Eddie in front of everyone was very different than with Bill and Audra alone. 

Stan’s expression softened and he put a hand on Richie’s shoulder. “You’ll be fine.” He said assuredly. “Plus, you got him a great gift.” 

Richie scoffed and looked at the chocolate corsage he had gotten Eddie. He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to get him something- did guys do that? But he had found this and knew that Eddie would think it was funny if nothing else. 

“We should go pick up our dates.” Richie said, trying to joke with Stan. His was only a date because the wizarding world thought they were dating. Stan’s was out of convenience. Neither were too excited for tonight. 

Stan nodded and they walked out, separating as Stan went to the Hufflepuff common room and Richie to the Slytherin one.  

Richie saw Eddie first, he was waiting outside, fiddling with his robes. He looked amazing in his midnight black robes with Slytherin green trim. He had done his hair into a fancy pompadour and it looked like he had some magical makeup on too, his face seemed to shimmer. 

In short, he looked, “Gorgeous.” Richie breathed, pausing to admire him. 

Eddie looked up and saw him, giving Richie a warm smile, a slight blush in his cheeks. “You look great Richie,” He said walking over to him.

“You too.” Richie said. He felt awkward, like all his limbs were too long. He didn’t know what to do so he thrust the corsage at Eddie. “Got you that.” 

Eddie looked down and smiled again, accepting the chocolate flower. “Delicious. I’ll run it up to my dorm, if that’s okay?” Richie nodded and Eddie left. 

Once the room shut Richie started to give himself a pep talk. You can do this Tozier. Sure, he looks amazing and sure you’ll be spending the whole evening with him but so what? He’s just another wizard. That you have a huge, ridiculous crush on. 

At that reminder Richie leaned against the wall, head in hands. It was going to be a long night. 

\-----------

“And finally, our Hogwarts champions, Eddie Kaspbrak and Richard Tozier!” McGonagall said with a flourish as the two entered the party to an eruption of cheers. The two waved at everyone, trying to smile naturally and not trip.

They made it up to the head table and both exhaled. “That wasn’t so bad.” Eddie said.

Richie nodded, gratefully drinking the butterbeer that had been left for them. They had gotten through the first piece, next was dinner then dancing. Richie’s saving grace was that Eddie seemed as nervous as him. At least he wasn’t alone in it.

Dinner went smoothly until Darce from the Daily Prophet made an appearance. “How are my two favorite champions?” He asked, oozing fake charm. 

“Go away.” Eddie said, scowling at him. 

Darce pretended to be affronted. “Now that’s no way to treat your number one fan. Come on, give me something. Have you figured out the next clue? Do our local champions know what’s coming?”

Richie was about to tell him to buzz off but Eddie spoke first. “We did. Well, Richie did. He figured it out right away. But we can’t tell you, since the others are around.”

Darce turned to Richie with his dazzling smile. “Mr. Tozier! Finally pulling your weight! Wonderful.” 

“I didn’t-” Richie started to say but Eddie cut in.

“He has always pulled his weight. He’s very smart. Put that in your next article.” 

Darce nodded, glancing at the quill that was writing next to him. “Happily. Now, how about a kiss for the papers? We’ll feature it on page seven.” 

Richie swallowed and looked at Eddie, who had paled slightly. “We’re not much for PDA,” Richie offered. 

Darce cocked his head. “No? All this hand holding we’ve seen and you’ll deny me a quick smooch? Come on boys, the public wants to see that you’re happy- especially at the yule ball, which celebrates the tournament and the schools. Just a quick peck.”

Before Richie could respond Eddie leaned over and kissed his cheek, fast enough that he barely felt it. “There.” 

Darce laughed. “I’m not sure the cameras got that boys. How about a little slower- and on the lips. It’s your boyfriend, not your grandmother.”

Richie looked at Eddie who nodded tightly. “Fine. Yes.” 

“Yes?” Richie repeated, surprised.

“Yes.” 

Richie wanted to protest, say that he didn’t want Eddie to kiss him under duress but Eddie had already put a hand on Richie’s cheek and pulled him in, brushing their lips together. Richie was surprised but, after a second, kissed him back. Eddie’s lips were soft and tasted like butterbeer.

Neither moved until they heard a cough. “Think that’s long enough boys.” Darce said. They both leaned back, red in the face. Darce was grinning. “That’ll make a great photo. Enjoy the rest of the night.” He said, whipping his robes theatrically as he left. 

“Eddie, I-” Richie started but Eddie interrupted again.

“Look, cake.” He said, taking a big bite of his and nodding happily. “It’s good!”

Richie sighed. Fine, Eddie didn’t want to talk about it. He turned to his own cake, which was good, and ate it quietly. He had bigger things to worry about - the dancing was about to start. 

“I'd like to invite the champions out to begin our dancing,”  Professor Isadora Viera said from the center of the room as all the dishes disappeared. “And I’m delighted to introduce our band, Pumpkin Juice for Pygmy Puffs!” 

Richie heard Eddie gasp next to him as the band came out and started playing one of their hits. He was about to ask why when he remembered Eddie’s celebrity crush was Ezra Barebone, the lead singer of this band,  who was currently singing his heart out and thrusting his hips on stage in very tight leather pants. Richie hated him immediately. 

“Come on!” Michelle said from behind Richie. She was happily pulling Samantha to the center of the dance floor. Samantha looked like she would rather face the giant spider again. Richie empathized. He was prepared to face dangerous magical creatures, but dancing in front of the whole school? That was uncalled for.

“Shall we?” He asked Eddie, who was still gaping at the singer. Jealousy curled in Richie’s chest. It seemed to have taken up permanent residence there, ever since he had watched Eddie with Bill. He hated it. 

Eddie nodded and Richie took his hand, leading the way to the other champions. The band quieted as they all took up the starting position,  Eddie’s right hand raised and clasped with Richie’s left, Eddie’s other hand on Richie’s shoulder and Richie’s on his hip. The song changed to something softer and Richie took a deep breath. He looked out in the crowd and saw Audra with Bill, flashing them a big thumbs up. He smiled gratefully at them and let muscle memory take over.

It was nearly a minute into the dance before he could look at Eddie and not his feet. “You’re doing great.” Eddie told him, giving Richie a warm smile. 

“It’s all thanks to Bill and Audra.” He said. “And my partner.” He thought he saw Eddie flush slightly at the comment. 

The song ended and the others were invited to join the dance floor. Richie saw Stan and Mike approaching, hand in hand. “You guys looked fantastic!” Mike said. “Great job.” 

“Thanks Mikey.” Richie said, looking from their hands to Stan, who shrugged, embarrassed but happy. 

Ben and Bev appeared, along with Audra and Bill and the group danced together for a while. Richie was finally enjoying himself, making fun of Ben and Stan’s dance moves while trying to copy Mike’s. Everyone was laughing and Richie decided that maybe dances didn’t suck too much. Especially when Eddie wordlessly took his hand during the next slow dance, pulling him closer than necessary. 

“Sorry about Darce.” Richie told him. He needed to say something before he got lost in Eddie’s eyes.

“Wasn’t your fault. Though, I wish our first kiss-” 

He was interrupted as McGonagall walked up to them. Richie glared at her, unable to stop himself. Eddie had just implied that they would have had a first kiss under different circumstances and he needed to hear what he planned to say next. 

“Hello boys, wonderful dancing tonight. I wanted to let you know that the band would like to meet all the champions on their break, if you’re interested.”

“Yes!” Eddie squeaked, stepping back from Richie and nodded. “Yes, please. I’d like that.” Richie glared at the floor but also nodded. 

“Excellent. Please be in the corner room in ten minutes. And boys,” She gave them both a small smile. “You’re doing an excellent job representing Hogwarts. We’re very proud.” 

Whatever, Richie thought. He was about to lose Eddie to a famous singer, what did he care about representing Hogwarts. 

-

**Eddie**

Staring at Ezra Barebone, with his tight leather pants, his sweaty dark curls and his charming smile, from the other side of the room, Eddie felt like a twelve year old with a crush all over again. His hands started to feel clammy and he let go of Richie’s hand, that he had been holding while they walked there, in favor of wiping them down on his dress robes. 

“How do I look?” He asked Richie, but didn’t give him a chance to answer. “Is my hair okay? Or did I mess it up with our dancing?” He sighed. “Do you think he knows who I am? I’m pretty sure I spoke to him once when he was still a student, but I was just a silly third year back then so probably not. I mean,  _ I  _ wouldn’t remember me if I were him-”

Eddie knew he was rambling and he would’ve felt bad for talking Richie’s ear off, if he wasn’t being uncharacteristically quiet, with his lips pressed tightly together and his eyebrows knitted, leaving Eddie’s nerves to get the best of him. 

Those nerves couldn’t be attributed only to the fact that he was meeting, well, re-encountering his lifetime crush, he had been nervous long before that, even before Richie picked him up from his common room. Richie and him had just gone back to knowing how to act around each other after the potions class incident, before they were thrust into a night that so far had him dancing with Richie, kissing him in front of the cameras per Darce’s request  _ and _ almost confessing to Richie that he had pictured their first kiss at some point, before they were interrupted by McGonagall. 

And the night wasn’t even close to done. 

Eddie looked around room and he saw Marcelo dragging a very red, very reluctant Marisa inside. He had seen them dancing before, with their respective dates, a Hufflepuff girl and a boy from Ilvermorny, wearing their matching dark red robes and dark red dress. 

Looking at them now, he noticed they were aggressively whispering in Spanish or Portuguese with some English thrown in. Eddie thought he heard Marcelo reassure her that no Pygmy Puff had been harmed in the making of Ezra’s shirt, which was enchanted to look like there was one of the creatures trapped in it. 

He elbowed Richie and pointed his head at the arguing twins, letting out a chuckle but Richie stared blankly at him, unsmiling. Eddie frowned, something had put Richie in a bad mood since they had been dancing and Eddie didn’t know what it was. 

Just then McGonagall walked into the room and Ezra abandoned his bandmates in favor of sauntering over to her, sporting a large grin and brushing back his sweaty hair. Eddie felt his cheeks heat up looking at him. 

“Professor McGonagall!” He called, arms outstretched. 

“Mr. Barebone, it’s good to have you back.” She said, giving him a pleased smile. 

“It’s good to be back, I’ve missed this place.” He said. “I hope you haven’t missed me much.” He added with a wink and Eddie recognized the gesture from the magical poster he still had on his room wall. 

“It’s always great to see our successful students come back to our school.” 

“I’m sure you’re more used to aurors and ministry workers, not singers.” 

“Success is success, Mr. Barebone. Please, come meet our champions.” McGonagall said, and they walked towards the six students. 

“Merlin’s beard, I’m going to be sick.” Eddie muttered under his breath. Richie heard him, and annoyed as he was, he placed a hand on Eddie’s lower back in support. 

“Just breathe, Eds.” He whispered in Eddie’s ear, and he shuddered. 

“Well, well, well. Aren’t you a good looking bunch.” Ezra said, before moving to shake their hands as they stated their names and exchanged compliments. 

Eddie and Richie were the last ones in line and when Ezra made it to them, he spoke before Eddie could even say his name. 

“You, I know.” Ezra said, eyes focused on Eddie. “You’re quite a celebrity yourself, Eddie Kaspbrak.” 

Hearing his name on the man’s lip made Eddie melt inside. He stuttered out a response. “You- you know who I am?” He asked, shocked and then flinched at how pathetic he sounded. 

“Of course. I recognized your face in the Daily Prophet from my time at Hogwarts. Do you still play quidditch for Slytherin?” He said, smiling charmingly at Eddie.

“I- uh.” He giggled, unable to form words. 

Richie cut in. “He does. And he is the best.” He said, coming to Eddie’s rescue when he wasn’t able to get any words out. Ezra’s attention shifted to him. 

“Richie Tozier.” He said, reaching for his hand. Richie shook it, but didn’t return the smile, instead he glared at Ezra, who luckily didn’t seem to notice or didn’t seem to care. 

Eddie managed to untangle his tongue long enough to get out, “You are great.” He said and felt the tip of his ears turn red. “I mean, you and your band are great. I really like your music.” 

“Thank you, Ed.” He said, and Eddie couldn’t bring himself to care about the nickname, even though he hated most of them. “I think you’re pretty great too, defeating a chimaera and all that. I’ll give you my autograph, if you give me yours.” He added with a wink. Eddie surprised himself by laughing loudly, even if what he said wasn’t that funny. 

Richie growled, a low sound that only Eddie was able to hear. 

Eddie couldn’t think of any reason why Richie didn’t like Ezra. He never mentioned having met him before and he had been enjoying the music they played earlier tonight, dancing eagerly to it. His mind supplied him with a different idea but that was only wishful thinking on his part, because, Richie couldn’t possibly be jealous, or could he? Thanks to Beverly, Richie knew about Eddie’s crush on Ezra, so maybe that was why he didn’t like him and why he was acting angry towards him. But why would Richie be jealous? They weren’t really together, it was all for show and even if sometimes it seemed that he liked Eddie, it probably wasn’t even real, not like it was for Eddie at least.

But that was the only explanation Eddie could think of for Richie’s animosity towards Ezra. 

“What’s with the name of the band?” Richie asked, pointing at Ezra’s shirt. “Was ‘Butterbeer for Billywigs’ already taken?

Eddie laughed and this time, it was a real full on laugh, the one only Richie’s jokes could elicit from him. He saw Richie’s eyes lit up the way they did whenever Eddie laughed at something he said. 

Ezra found it funny too, he laughed and clapped Richie in the back. “You’re as funny as they say, Richie.” 

Eddie worried that being called funny would make Richie snap at Ezra, the whole ‘Ravenclaw’s joke’ issue was still a thing for him, but Ezra said it with such a genuine tone that Richie couldn’t help but smile back. 

Eddie stared at the two of them, standing side by side and smiling, and he realized that Beverly was right about something. 

A couple of days after the potions class incident, Eddie had finally gathered up the courage to tell Beverly about his new discovery, that he liked Richie. She hadn’t been surprised at all. She was angry though, that Eddie’s line of action was to avoid Richie at all costs, but she had gotten over it and resorted to teasing her friend instead. One of her usual taunts consisted of making fun of Eddie’s blindness towards his own obvious feelings. Like how he could ignore the fact that he had been crushing on a guy who looked like an older, more fashionable Richie Tozier since he was twelve years old. Eddie told her she was crazy, that Ezra Barebone looked nothing like Richie Tozier but maybe he had been wrong about that too. 

There were differences of course, Richie wore glasses while Ezra didn’t. Richie was slightly taller and slightly paler. Their eyes were different too, Richie’s were a bright green while Ezra’s were a warm brown, but they had the same high cheekbones, the same dark curls and the same goofy, yet charming smile. Maybe he had been just as blind, or so deep in denial, as Bev had said, after all. 

“Ezra!” One of the band members called out. “They’re calling us back!”

“Shit.” He muttered, turning back towards Richie and Eddie. “Duty calls. It was great seeing you two again.” 

Eddie nodded fervently while Richie gave a slight nod. “You too! Good luck with the rest of your performance.”

“Good luck on the next tasks.” Ezra said, and then lowered his voice. “I said that to all six of you, but go Hogwarts, right?” Eddie chuckled and Richie snorted. “Oh, and you two make a great couple by the way.” He said as a way of goodbye. 

“Thank you.” Richie said and this time he gave Ezra a genuine smile. He wrapped an arm around Eddie’s shoulder, pulling him close. 

With a final wave, Ezra and his bandmates left the room. One look around told Eddie that the twins and the Ilvermorny girls had also left and it was only him and Richie there. It was the first time they were alone since the start of the night. In fact, it was the first time they had been alone since they had started talking again. They had been trying to avoid being left alone, keeping people around them at all times, or at least Eddie had, so that there were no awkward silences and they weren’t forced to talk about the erumpent in the room, but standing there with just Richie, Eddie realized he had missed this.

He looked up at Richie, who still had an arm around him. “Hey, do you want to get out of here?”

Richie seemed surprised by the suggestion. “I thought you would want to see the rest of the show.” 

“We already heard their best songs.” Eddie said, a little embarrassed over how transparent he was being. “Besides, I could use a break from all of this.” The dance, the people, the attention.

Richie smiled, Eddie guessed he could relate. “Agreed. Let’s go.”

-

Their plan to sneak out didn’t go unnoticed. The only way out was through the Great Hall and once there, they were intercepted by their friends. Bev jumped in front of Eddie, dragging Ben along with her. 

“So, how was it?” Bev said, smirking. “Did he remember you? Did you ask for his autograph? Invite him to your dorm later tonight?”

Eddie’s eyes widened. “Bev!”

“He mostly just stood there, stuttering and blushing.” Richie supplied. Now that Ezra wasn’t there, he was in a much better mood and went back to teasing Eddie. 

Eddie spluttered, embarrassed. “It’s better than glaring at him for no reason.” He said, crossing his arms in front of his chest and raising an eyebrow at Richie. Now, it was  _ his  _ turn to blush. 

Bev perked up at that and ever the one to say exactly what she’s thinking, she smirked at Richie and said, “Why were you glaring at him, Tozier? Were you jealous?”

Eddie’s head snapped to Richie and he saw how his expression turned embarrassed, eyes widening and blush deepening. 

Ben, who had been silent until then, decided to swoop in and save Richie from the awkward situation. “Let’s dance some more, Bev.” He said, dragging her back to where Bill was twirling Audra around and Mike was trying to get Stan to do the robot dance with him. Eddie only knew what that was because Richie had shown him earlier. Before leaving, Bev turned and winked at Eddie, clearly not sorry about the awkwardness she had caused. 

“Should we, uh- do you still want to leave?” Richie asked, nervously scratching the back of his neck. 

Eddie nodded and they made their way to the entrance, but before they could reach it, Darce appeared out of nowhere in front of them. 

“You have to be bloody joking.” Richie groaned. 

“Are you tired of the party already, boys?” Darce said, ignoring Richie’s remark and Eddie’s annoyed eye roll. “Or did that kiss earlier leave you wanting some alone time?” He added, giving them both a knowing look. 

Before Eddie could say that the were not, in fact, leaving the party to make out or do other things, Richie wrapped an arm around his waist.

“Well, Darce, you would feel that way too if you had a boyfriend as cute as mine. Now if you’ll excuse us, we have places to be.” Richie said, and without allowing him to give a snarky response, he dragged Eddie out of there. 

He looked over his shoulder, back at Darce, who was smirking as the quill and piece of parchment that whizzed around his head, moved rapidly, no doubt writing down what would be his next article. 

They wandered around the castle for a while. Even if Darce had been wrong about the reason why Eddie and Richie snuck out of the party, his assumptions hadn’t been entirely off. They ran into several couples making out in the halls or under the trees outside. And every time they did, Eddie had trouble keeping the image of Richie and himself doing the same, out of his head. And now that he had a taste of what Richie’s mouth felt on his, he knew it would be a while before he could stop picturing it. 

They ended up sitting near the lake, tossing rocks and keeping an eye out for the Giant Squid. 

“What do you think Darce’s next article about us will be called?” Eddie wondered, after they sat there in silence for a while. 

Richie hummed, pursing his lips in thought. “I’m thinking something like ‘Hogwarts champions leave the party to get handsy with each other’.” Eddie groaned, mortified. “Can’t wait for my parents to read  _ that _ .”

“I’ve never been more glad my mother doesn’t read the Daily Prophet.”

“Your mom- she still doesn’t know about all this?” Eddie shook his head. “You’re not planning on telling her?”

Eddie sighed. “I’ve thought about it. I even wrote her a letter, telling her about the tournament. But I never sent it.”

“Are you afraid of how she will react?”

“Oh I know how she’ll react.” Eddie said. “She will freak out and find a way to get here and then make a scene.” 

“Are you sure about that?” Richie said. “Maybe she will understand, if you explain everything to her.”

Eddie scoffed. “You don’t know her, Rich.”

“Oh, but I do Eds. I visit her every night.” Richie said, waggling his eyebrows and nudging Eddie.

He groaned, pushing at Richie’s arm. “Shut up!” He said, but there was no heat behind it. “Anyway, after what happened with my father she became terrified of losing me, of something happening to me. If I told her I joined this tournament,” he shook his head, “she would never forgive me. And she would  _ never _ let me come back to Hogwarts.”

“She can’t do that, can she?” 

Eddie shrugged. “That didn’t stop her from trying before. I almost didn’t come back for my second year. And then, after joining the Quidditch team, she tried to keep me from coming back for my third year.” He sighed. “I would like to come back for my seventh and last year without any trouble.” Richie nodded in understanding. “I am  _ this _ close to graduating. And if we win the tournament then I’ll be able to finally free myself from her.”

“ _ Woah _ .” Richie said. “And here I thought you only wanted to be in this tournament to spend time with me.”

Eddie snorted out a laugh, rolling his eyes. “Oh no, you caught me. I also rigged the Goblet of Fire so it would choose the two of us for the tournament.”

“Oh yeah?” Richie smirked, his eyebrows disappearing behind his curls. “That sounds like a bloody complicated plan.”

“Wait until you hear what the next step of my plan is.”

“What’s that?”

“Tricking you into falling in love with me, of course. You know, as soon as I can figure out how to brew a love potion.” Eddie laughed but his laughter was cut short when what he said, registered in his brain. He wanted to hit himself in the head for mentioning a love potion when the awkwardness of the incident from a couple of weeks ago, was still fresh. 

He stood up from the log they had been sitting on, not wanting Richie to see the blush in his cheeks. He grabbed a handful of stones and started to toss them to the lake, desperate for something to do.

He heard Richie let out a nervous laugh before standing up to join Eddie near the lake. Eddie spared a glance his way and due to the moon light shining down on them, he could see Richie was blushing too. It made him nervous, but it also gave Eddie a tingly feeling in his stomach. 

“It’s a- a solid plan, Eds. But I’m warning you, I would never willingly take a potion you brewed. Not offense, but I might end up turning into a frog.”

Eddie laughed, feeling the tension lift slightly.  “That would be an improvement.”

Richie gasped. “You- Ouch, Eds. That’s low.” He said, before crouching and using his hand to splash Eddie with water. 

“Richie!” Eddie yelled. “That water is freezing cold!” 

Richie only laughed, before doing it again. “I’ll warm you up, baby.” 

Eddie glared at him, feeling his ears heat up. Then he dipped his hand in the water and splashed Richie back. 

It turned into a water fight quickly and soon enough, they were flushed with laughter and their robes were dripping wet. 

“Shit. You were right. The water is freezing.” Richie said, shivering. 

Eddie shook his head. “Come here.” He said, as he took out his wand. He pointed at Richie and then at himself. “ _ Calesco _ .”

The warming up spell did its trick and the two of them stopped shivering. 

“Bloody awesome!” Richie muttered, looking at Eddie in amazement. 

“Thanks.” Eddie said, before he yawned. 

“Tired, Eds?” Richie asked. Eddie nodded. “Come on, I’ll walk you to your common room.” He said, grabbing his hand.

“Thanks for walking me here, Richie.” Eddie said once they were back at the dungeons. “I guess I will see you after the holidays. You’re going home for Christmas, right?”

It had been years since Eddie went home for Christmas. The last time was the year after his father died. His mother had refused to decorate their house or celebrate for that matter, not without Frank there. And she had cried and begged Eddie to stay when it was time for him to return. Eddie didn’t bother going home anymore. Staying here wasn’t that fun either, considering both Ben and Bev went back home every year, leaving him alone. He had more friends this year, Richie for starters, but also Stan and Mike and Bill and Audra, but he was pretty sure they were all leaving too. He had heard Richie talking about how excited he was to see his parents and do something called caroling.

Which is why he was surprised with Richie’s answer. “Actually, I’m staying here this year.” Richie said, biting his lip nervously. Eddie tilted his head to the side, confused. “I uh- my dad he has a dentist convention.”

“On Christmas?” Eddie asked, nose scrunched up. “That’s... odd.” 

“Yeah. You know us muggles. We’re super weird.” Richie said, laughing it off. “So yeah, he’s taking my mom with him so they can’t do family Christmas this year.”

“I’m sorry. I know you were looking forward to it.”

“It’s okay. They’re coming here for the third task, so I’ll see them soon enough.” 

“Oh.” Eddie breathed out, slightly hurt. He knew it was his fault that his mother wasn’t going to be here for that, but he couldn’t help but feel bad about it. He still smiled at Richie. “That’s good.”

“Yeah. They’re excited and slightly scared.” Richie said, smiling. “So, uh. I guess it’s going to be just me and you during Christmas.” 

Eddie’s eyes widened. Richie was right, with all of his friends gone, it would be Richie and him alone. He felt excited but nervous at the same time. 

“Cool. Great. We can work on figuring out the next clue.” 

“Oh Eds. You’re always the life of the party.” Richie joked. 

“I’ve had enough parties to last me for a while.”

“Was it really that bad?” 

“Not all of it. I had fun. With you.” Eddie said, nonchalantly. “And the others.” He added as an afterthought. Richie’s smile faltered a little when he heard the last part and Eddie made a split second decision, going on his tiptoes and kissing Richie’s cheek. “But mostly with you.” 

“Oh.” Richie breathed out. “Uh- yeah. Me too.” He said softly, clearly taken by surprise.

“Okay.” Eddie said, already walking away. He could feel his blush spreading all the way down to his neck and he was worried that if he stayed there any longer he would do something stupid like kiss Richie again, this time on the lips. “I’ll- uh. I’ll see you around. Bye!” 

And with that he went inside his common room and then his dormitory, where he fell asleep staring at the chocolate corsage Richie had given him and with a smile on his face. 


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie sighed. He had told himself that not telling her about the kiss didn’t count as lying, but Bev was his best friend and he hated keeping things from her. “We uh- we kind of already kissed.” He mumbled, hoping Bev wouldn’t catch what he said.
> 
> The sound of Bev’s beater bat hitting the floor told him differently.
> 
> “You did fucking what?”

**Eddie**

“So, you’re leaving tomorrow?” Eddie asked, taking off his Quidditch gloves and arm guards and hanging them next to his broom in the changing rooms, Bev doing the same next to him. They had just finished their last Quidditch practice of the year and the last one before more than half the team, including Beverly, left to go spend Christmas with their families.

“Yeah.” Bev said, taking off her goggles. It was mid-December and the weather was getting colder as Christmas got closer. The Quidditch pitch had been covered in snow and they had needed the goggles to play in the frosty conditions. “The Hogwarts Express leaves tomorrow at noon.”

Eddie groaned. He loved Christmas but he never looked forward to spending time without Bev around.

“You can still come with me, you know?” Bev told him. “The usual offer still stands.”

The usual offer being that Eddie came with Bev to visit her mom and her aunt. She had first asked him during their third year, after Eddie told her he wouldn’t be going back home to his mother, knowing it would be just as bad as their first year without his father. Eddie had declined. It didn’t feel right to intrude on her family’s celebration but that didn’t stop Beverly from extending the invitation to him every year after that. 

“I know and thanks, Bev, but I think it’s better if I stay here.” 

“It was worth a try.” She said, shrugging. She went inside one of the stalls to change out of her uniform and when she came out, she had a smirk on her face. “I just remembered! I heard Stan say Richie would be staying here too.” 

Eddie hummed in acknowledgement as he hurriedly picked up his things. It was Eddie’s turn to change out of his clothes and he welcomed the opportunity to hide behind a door if they were going to talk about Richie. 

“And we’re all going to be gone, Ben and Mike and Stan…”

“Bill might be staying.” Eddie supplied, voice muffled as he pulled his shirt over his head. 

“Well, he’ll probably spend his Christmas with Georgie, leaving you to spend it with Richie. _Only_ Richie.” She said and Eddie could practically hear her waggling her eyebrows. 

He shrugged, even if Beverly couldn’t see him. “I guess.”

“Are you getting him a present?” She asked and when Eddie didn’t answer, she let out a loud laugh. “You already did, didn’t you? By Merlin’s beard, Eddie, you are fucking smitten, did you know that?”

Eddie groaned. “Shut up, Bev. It’s not a big deal, I just got him something I thought he might like. The other day, at Hogsmeade.”

“Huh. Is that why you slipped away from me and Ben during our last visit?” Bev said, and Eddie felt himself start to blush thinking back on that day, when he had downed his butterbeer as fast as he could and had left The Three Broomsticks in a hurry, claiming he had to head back to the castle when in fact he had gone to Tomes and Scrolls to get Richie’s present. “Oh, it is! That’s so cute! I wonder what he will get you.”

“He’s probably not going to get me anything.”

Bev snorted. “Trust me, he is. He’s crushing on you just as hard.”

“You don’t know that.” Eddie said, rolling his eyes. 

He heard Bev sigh, this wasn’t the first time the two of them had had this conversation. After he had told Beverly about his crush on Richie she had been insisting that he wasn’t the only one, that Richie had a crush on him too. A real crush, despite his crude comments and jokes previous to actually getting to know Eddie, but he had a hard time letting her convince him about it, mostly because he didn’t want to get his hopes up or deal with the consequences of Richie liking him back.

“This could be the perfect opportunity, you know?”

“Perfect opportunity for what?” Eddie asked.

“For you to finally make a move and kiss Richie, of course.”

Eddie was taken by surprise and he tripped while trying to put on his pants, stumbling over and hitting his head against the wood door. “Shit!”

Beverly let out a laugh, not at all concerned with the noise and the cursing. Instead, she pushed on. “I mean, it will be just the two of you, alone on Christmas, mistletoe fucking everywhere. Like I said, perfect opportunity for your first kiss.”

Eddie let out a strangled yelp, but this time it wasn’t because he almost fell over, but because he had been reminded that Richie and him had already kissed for the first time. And that he had forgotten to tell Beverly about it. 

At first he hadn’t told her because he thought Darce would publish his article and the picture of their kiss right after the Yule Ball, but for some reason, he hadn’t yet. And when Eddie had made it to breakfast the morning after and Bev hadn’t riled him up with questions about what had happened that night, he had just forgotten to mention it. 

“Eddie?” Bev asked, after he stayed silent for a while, she sounded suspicious. “Is there something you’re not telling me?” 

Eddie sighed. He had told himself that not telling her about the kiss didn’t count as lying, but Bev was his best friend and he hated keeping things from her. “We uh- we kind of already kissed.” He mumbled, hoping Bev wouldn’t catch what he said. 

The sound of Bev’s beater bat hitting the floor told him differently. 

“You did fucking  _ what _ ?” 

Eddie sighed, opening the door of the stall and walking out. Bev was gaping at him, eyes wide, mouth hanging open in surprise, her bat near her feet. Eddie offered her a sheepish smile. 

“We kissed. Richie and I.”

Beverly shrieked, attracting the rest of their teammates’ attention. They had been changing along with them, ignoring Eddie and Bev’s conversation, until now, when it became impossible to. “Why? Where? When?” 

Eddie fidgeted, anxious that people might be listening to them talk. “At the Yule Ball, but it wasn’t like a real kiss, I mean- I don’t think- It wasn’t-” He sighed, frustrated. “Can we talk about this somewhere else?” 

Bev seemed to realize then that they were surrounded by their teammates and grabbed Eddie’s arm, dragging him through the door.

Outside, the air was cold and it bit on Eddie’s skin once they left the changing rooms. He was wearing warm clothes, a thick wool sweater and fleece lined cotton pants but he still shivered as they made their way through the snowy training grounds. 

As soon as they were at a safe enough distance from the changing rooms, Bev nudged Eddie’s side insistently. “Okay, tell me everything.”

“There isn’t much to tell.” Eddie said with a shrug. “It was Darce’s fault. He was talking about how we never kiss and insisting that we did it for the cameras and not taking no for an answer so I just- did it.”

“And what did Richie do? He kissed you back?” Bev asked, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Well yeah, but he couldn’t exactly push me away with Darce there.” Eddie said. That thought had been at the back of his mind since that night, that maybe the only reason Richie had kissed him back was because they were in front of the cameras. 

Beverly rolled her eyes. “Was Darce there when he was being all jealous over Ezra Barebone too?” Eddie shook his head. “Then how do you explain  _ that _ ?” 

“I-”

“You can’t.” Bev said, jumping in. “Not unless you accept that he likes you back.” Eddie opened his mouth to argue, but Bev waved him off. “Which I know you refuse to do.”

“It’s not that, it’s just easier not to get my hopes up.” Eddie said, shoulders sagging. “Besides, it would be too complicated, to date your tournament partner.” 

“I don’t know, the Ilvermorny girls seem to be doing just fine.” Bev told him. “Besides, everyone already thinks you’re together, I doubt a lot would change.”

Eddie snorted. “ _ Everything _ would change.”

“You’re so bloody dramatic.” Bev said with an exaggerated sigh. “Not everything. And my guess is that I’ll be proven right before the year is over.”

“What do you mean?”

“All I’m saying is that if something were ever going to happen, you know without Darce having anything to do with it, I’d bet 100 galleons that it’s going to be on Christmas.” 

Eddie inhaled sharply, he had already been on edge at the prospect of spending Christmas alone with Richie and that was without even entertaining the idea of something happening while it was just the two of them. “I’m sure it won’t.”

Bev shrugged. “Like I said, perfect opportunity for your first kiss. Well, second kiss.”

Eddie let out a nervous laugh. “Yeah, no.”

She smirked at him. “Just picture this. The two of you all cozied up in front of the fire, pressed close together.” She cooed, in between laughs. Eddie was having trouble keeping the image out of his mind and the blush out of his cheeks. She grabbed Eddie’s face with her cold hands, making him yelp. “He holds your face like this, you lean forward, he closes his eyes, you do the same and then-” She stopped a couple of inches from Eddie’s face, lips pursed and making smooching sounds. 

“Okay, okay!” Eddie said, breaking away from her.

“Aw, you’re fucking blushing!” She said, laughing at Eddie. 

It only made his blush darken. “Shut up, I’m not- It’s from the cold!” Eddie told her, which only made her laugh harder. “I’m going back to the castle.” 

Eddie turned around and started walking towards the east entrance, leaving a cackling Beverly behind. 

He had taken only a couple of steps when he felt something icy cold hit his back. 

“Fuck!” Eddie shrieked, whirling back around to find Beverly holding a snowball in her hand, smirking at him. “What was that for?!”

“ _ That _ was for not telling me about your kiss, you little shit. And  _ this, _ ” she said, swinging her arm back, preparing to throw the snowball in her hand, “it’s just because I feel like it.”

She tossed it and Eddie managed to move out of the way before the snowball could hit him on the chest, hitting his arm instead. “Bev!”

She doubled over with laughter and Eddie took advantage of her distraction to gather up snow from the ground and pack a snowball. Then, he threw it, like he would a Quaffle and hit Bev square in the face. 

Now it was Eddie who bursted into laughter at Bev’s expression.

“Oh, it’s on Kaspbrak!” She said, readying herself to strike again. 

“Bring it, Marsh!” 

And just like that the two of them were caught in a snowball fight, stupid grins plastered on their faces, only disappearing when one of them managed to hit the other on the face or when a particularly forceful throw from Eddie had Bev falling on her butt. She got her revenge pretty soon after that, when she charged on Eddie and shoved an icy snowball down the back of his sweater.

Only when both of their lips were tinged blue and they couldn’t feel their fingers anymore did they call for a ceasefire. 

Eddie looked down at his wet clothes and huffed, his breath coming out in white puffs. “I hate you.” 

“You  _ love  _ me.” Bev said, throwing her arms around Eddie’s neck. 

Eddie’s expression softened. “I do. And I’m gonna miss you.”

“Aw, me too, Eddie.” Bev said, ruffling his hair. Then she grabbed his arm and started dragging him inside. “Come on, I think I can get Jonsey down at the kitchens to make us some hot chocolate.” 

Eddie snorted at the mention of Jonsey, a house elf that Bev had befriended years ago. It had helped her get tartlets and pies whenever she wanted, sometimes for Eddie too. He was pretty sure it was against the school rules, but Eddie wasn’t going to say no to the best hot chocolate he had ever tried. 

-

**Richie**

“Staniel, Stanny, Stan, Stan.” Richie sang from Stan’s bed, trying to get his attention while the other boy packed. He had been ignoring Richie for a while and he was starting to think he had cast a silencing charm on him. Richie did the only logical thing and started throwing socks at Stan’s head.

After the third one he finally whipped around, “What? Bloody hell, you’re worse than Peeves!” 

“I’m gonna miss you,” Richie said, looking up at him with puppy dog eyes. “Don’t leave me.”

Stan glared at him then sighed, whisking his wand to do the rest of the packing. He sat down next to Richie. “Where is this coming from?”

“I just love you so much Stanny-boy.” Richie said, propping his chin on his hands. 

Stan hummed. “That’s a lie. I think maybe you’re nervous about spending time with Eddie.”

That was exactly it but Richie wasn’t going to admit it. He shook his head, “Nah, I just won’t have anyone to sneak down to the kitchens with. No one tickles a pear quite like you.” He said with a wink. “Though, I guess I shouldn’t say that anymore, since Mike’s pear is the only one for you now.”

The two had gotten together at Yule Ball, sometime after Richie and Eddie left. Stan had told Richie that night, asking him not to make a big deal out of it. Richie had made hearts float above their heads for the entire week after. 

“I don’t know why Eddie isn’t swooning for you.” Stan deadpanned. “All those winning lines.” 

Richie flopped onto his back, groaning. “You wound me, Staniel. You’ll always be first in my heart, even if I’m second in yours.”

Stan leaned over him, “Eddie has always been first in yours. And now you can spend some time alone with him. He might even fall for you, if you can shut up for five minutes. Maybe you two can kiss for real. The school will probably have mistletoe up.” Richie had told Stan about the kiss that night, bursting into the room and waking up their roommates. 

Richie shot up, fast enough that he hit Stan’s face with his own. “Bloody hell, I didn’t even think of that.” He turned to Stan. “Do you think Eddie thought about it?” 

Stan groaned, his head falling into his hands. “You two are perfect for each other, you’re both idiots.” He stood, checking his luggage and moving some things around.

“What if he expects me to kiss him? Do you think he does? Should I plant one on him?” Richie’s mind was spinning. He had just been excited to have some time alone with Eddie, he hadn’t thought of anything beyond convincing Eddie that he was serious about them, whatever they were. He still felt like an idiot for how he acted in front of Ezra but seeing Eddie fawn over him had set him over the edge. 

Stan locked his suitcase and magicked it to follow him. “I don’t know. You need to talk to Eddie. But I do think an empty castle is romantic. And you can find out if Eddie is any good at tickling pears.”

Richie threw his head back, laughing. “Stan you sly dog.” 

Stan winked at him, then waved goodbye leaving Richie alone. Stan was one of the last people to leave so the castle truly was empty. He was meeting Eddie that night to talk about the clue but he was a free man until then. He looked at his homework, knowing he should start it now but he wasn’t motivated. 

Instead he sighed and stood, deciding to get a snack. He had made close friends with the house elves during his second year, when he was hiding from Henry. He had cast a spell on his teeth, making his already prominent front teeth grow hideously big. Richie had figured out how to reverse it but hadn’t been ready to face everyone yet. Instead, he had wandered down to the kitchens and figured out how to open the door. He’d been going down there since whenever he needed a pick me up. He loved spending time with the house elves, finding them amusing and lighthearted. 

Richie ticked the pair and watched as the door swung open. To his surprise, Eddie was already there, a pile of cherry pasties sitting in front of him while he listened to one of the older elves talk. Eddie’s head whipped to Richie as he walked in, looking equally surprised. 

Richie spoke first. “Eds, my good man, I didn’t take you for someone to pilfer food.”

Eddie swallowed thickly, quickly drinking some hot cocoa. “Bev comes down here sometimes. I was just talking to Jonsey about the history of house elves.”

“Fascinating.” Richie said, pulling a stool up next to Eddie. Hot Chocolate and plate of food appeared in from of him.

“Yes, Mister Richie Tozier!” Jonsey said in a squeaky voice. “Jonsey was just telling Mister Eddie about how we came to serve the wizards!” 

“Please go on,” Richie said, stealing a pastry from Eddie’s plate. He leaned in, letting himself be against Eddie. He expected Eddie to move but he didn’t, allowing them to be pressed together. 

Jonsey nodded happily. “Many years ago there was a rumor among all creatures that wizards were immortal, because they lived longer than muggles.” Jonsey giggled, enjoying his own private joke. “We didn’t know then that they only lived a bit longer than us!” 

“House elves can live to be 200.” Eddie said, turning to Richie. Because of how close they were Eddie’s face was right next to his.

“Amazing.” Richie said, staring into Eddie’s eyes. “Tell me more.”

Eddie flushed, “Yes, Jonsey, tell us more.” He said, turning back towards the elf, who didn’t seem to notice that anything had happened. 

“Well! We had just come off of a war of our own and wanted to be protected. Our numbers had dwindled to nearly nothing. Twas a bad time to be an elf, if Jonsey is allowed to say. So Pitts, the leader of the remaining elves, made a deal with the wizards. You would protect us and we would serve you.” He bobbed his head happily, “That is how the deal came to be! And we have served the greatest families since.”

Richie frowned. While house elves had more rights now than they ever had, largely thanks to Hermione Granger, there were still arguments that it didn’t go far enough. But a lot of the elves didn’t seem interested in getting more rights and vehemently rejected any changes that people tried to make. Richie wasn’t sure where he stood, he liked the elves at Hogwarts but also wanted them to be happy. 

“Thanks Jonsey,” Eddie said, standing and brushing crumbs off himself. “I should get started on that potions essay. Always good to see you.”

“Come back soon, Master Eddie!” Jonsey squeaked. 

“Just Eddie, please.” Eddie said as he turned to Richie, who also stood. Eddie’s hand came up to his chest, brushing him off. “You had crumbs.” Eddie said, his hand still on Richie’s chest.

“Thanks.” He said thickly. Richie wondered if Eddie wanted him to kiss him then. It made him nervous and he fell back on what he always did when he felt that way- he made an off color joke. “I’ve got lots of other places you can put those hands.” He said with a wink. Not his best work but it broke the tension of the moment as Eddie sighed and took a step back.

“I should go.” 

Richie nodded and waved to Eddie as he left before turning back to Jonsey and the plate of food. “Tell me more about Pitts.”

\--

Richie met Eddie for breakfast the next morning. There were only about 30 students staying so the large house tables had been converted to smaller round ones.

“Ready to start on that clue?” Richie asked, falling next to Eddie and grabbing the plate of eggs.

“I suppose.” Eddie said, “Though I don’t know what we haven’t tried.” 

Richie nodded, they’d been taking turns with the scroll, trying to figure out what to do. They’d asked the others for any ideas and nothing seemed to work. They hadn’t gotten so much as a letter to appear. 

“We can always try my suggestion.” Richie said, grabbing some bacon and shoving it in his mouth.

Eddie wrinkled his nose. “I am not taking a bath with you in the prefects bathroom.”

“But it worked last time!” Richie said, pieces of meat flying out his mouth. 

“That was an egg! This is a piece of paper.” Eddie said, turning to his own breakfast. “We’ll figure it out. We just have to expand our search.” 

Later that day, they were in the Room of Requirement, books and lit candles piled in front of them. Richie stretched, letting out a loud yawn. “I think I’m bested Eds. I’ve got nothing.” They had been at it for hours and still nothing. The paper was more stubborn than Filch. 

Eddie leaned back, rubbing his eyes. “Me too, I can’t think of anything.” 

Richie ran his fingers over the gift that had been burning a hole in his pocket. He had been debating when to give it to Eddie. Giving it to him on Christmas seemed like too much but Richie wanted them to be alone. He decided it was a now or never thing. 

“Before we go I - uh- I got you this. It’s just something dumb.” He said, depositing it in front of Eddie, trying not to look as nervous as he felt. 

Eddie looked at him, eyes wide. “I got you something too,” Eddie said, digging in his bag and pulling out a heavy package. 

They both smiled at each other and ripped into their packages. Richie joyfully held up the potions book, thumbing through it happily. He had been looking at it in the store for months, there were several potions he wanted to try out. “Thanks Eds!”

Eddie was smiling and shaking his head ruefully at Richie’s gift. “Broom wax?” He said, holding the tin up.

“It’s better with wax I’ve heard.” Richie smirked. Then he added, “It cleans the broom too, it’s got an antiseptic in it.” 

Eddie opened it and smelled it, sighing happily. “It smells like soap.”

Richie nodded, leaning in a little. “It reminded me of you.” 

Eddie leaned in too. “Oh?”

Richie licked his lips. “Yeah, clean and soapy. Pure Eddie.” He saw Eddie’s eyes on his lips and both moved slightly closer. Richie’s heart was pounding and he brought his hand up, intending to cup Eddie’s cheek but instead knocking over a candle.

“Oh fuck!” He said, watching in horror as the scroll caught on fire. 

“ _ Aguamenti _ !” Eddie cried, dowsing the scroll with water. “Richie, be careful!” He chided. “We need this scroll intact!” 

But Richie was staring at the scroll, watching as words appeared, looking as if they had been burned into the paper. 

_ Explore a place created a long time ago _

_ A space where you have been forbade to go  _

_ To stop from becoming prey _

_ You will have to defeat us the mortal way  _

_ Like in tournament’s past something has been taken  _

_ And to win this task you’ll need to explore the forsaken  _

_ An hour twice you’ll have to find _

_ But be cautious not to get left behind _

_ For in this space you never know _

_ Exactly what is starting to grow _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey we're back!!!  
> Let us know if you figure out the clue! :D :D (on here or tumblr, we both love talking about this fic)


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Richie remembered something and hefted up another item, handing it to Eddie. “This is for you.”
> 
> Eddie looked at the item skeptically. “What is that?”
> 
> “It’s a fanny pack, all the cool muggles wear it to keep stuff in. It goes along your waist.” Richie took it back and reached around Eddie, strapping the pack on him and adjusting it. “Now everything is at your fingertips.”
> 
> Eddie looked down. “Convenient.” 
> 
> “Thought you’d like it.”

**Richie**

“All of you will enter the forest at the same time. You will have two hours to find your friends- without the use of magic. Hopefully all of you figured out the clue and none of this is a surprise.” Hermione was telling the contestants, her deep purple robes whipping behind her as she walked. “If something goes awry just shout out ‘Butterbeer’ three times and someone will come to help you. You will be marked as incomplete for the task but we will still score you for the work you completed.” She looked at them, smiling warmly. “Any questions?”

Richie nodded along, trying to fight his nervousness. He had a lot of questions, mainly how safe was it to be in the forbidden forest without their magic? At least they had figured out all of the hints so none of this was surprise. 

Part of the clue had been easy to figure out, that they were being sent into the forest. Figuring out what ‘the mortal way’ meant had taken longer. It had been Eddie who remembered their conversation with Jonsey, that there used to be rumors that wizards were immortal. The team had decided to assume that they wouldn’t have their wands and they had been correct, once they entered the tent the wands were taken. The girls from Ilvermorny didn’t look surprised as they handed them over but the twins looked shocked. Richie and Eddie had debated telling the others but it had been Bill who convinced them not to, reminding them that they were in third place and needed every advantage they could get. 

They had prepared as best they could. They had been doing research since they puzzled out the clue, trying to learn as much as they could about the forest and everything they may encounter. Unfortunately, a lot of it was ‘there are many mysteries in the forest, we may never be able to catalog all of the oddities.’ Useless. 

Hermione finished talking and Eddie looked at Richie for the first time. “What is that?” He asked, gesturing at his outfit. “What are you wearing?”

Richie frowned slightly, he thought he looked cool. He had modeled himself after the American muggle Rambo- a black tank top, a bandana tying back his hair, and a utility belt strapped across his chest. He had even put the two black lines under his eyes.

“Nothing.” He said, deflating slightly. Eddie seemed to notice and walked over to him.

“I just thought you’d be cold, with those skinny arms.” Eddie rested a warm hand on Richie’s arm and Richie fought a blush. Things had gone back to mostly normal since the holidays, it felt like the two of them were in a good place. Even when Darce’s article about them came out (on Christmas day, probably for dramatic effect) it didn’t put a damper on things. 

But Eddie’s casual touches were a new thing that Richie loved and hated. He loved when Eddie was next to him, and how it felt when Eddie leaned into him, but he also hated that he didn’t know the reason behind them. It meant a lot to him but he had no idea if Eddie felt the same and it never felt like a good time to ask. 

“I’ll be fine, I’ve got a hot boy to keep me warm.” Richie joked. Then he remembered something and hefted up another item, handing it to Eddie. “This is for you.”

Eddie looked at the item skeptically. “What is  _ that _ ?”

“It’s a fanny pack, all the cool muggles wear it to keep stuff in. It goes along your waist.” Richie took it back and reached around Eddie, strapping the pack on him and adjusting it. “Now everything is at your fingertips.”

Eddie looked down. “Convenient.” 

“Thought you’d like it.” 

Soon enough after that, the countdown was starting. The three teams were at separate doors, all ready to enter the forest. 

The timer went off and the teams broke up. Richie knew that they had to find their friends, Stan had been missing this morning and Eddie said that Bev was gone too. Richie didn’t want to think about how pissed Stan would be that he was taken. His annoyance may be worse than any creature they encountered.

They were plunged into darkness as the tent flap closed behind them. Richie turned back but it was like the tent had disappeared. He swallowed, trying to steal his nerves, and pulled out his first tool, a flashlight. It cast a narrow beam of light that barely penetrated the blackness. They were surrounded by trees, ancient and looming. It felt like the forest was closing in on them. Trying to ignore it, he turned to Eddie. 

“You have one too,” He said, indicating his fanny pack. Eddie reached in and pulled it out, fiddling with the buttons. Richie bent over and clicked the button on for him. 

“Which way?” Eddie asked, looking around unhappily. Richie remembered that Eddie had never been in the forest. Richie had spent a fair amount of time in here during his first few years, when he was racking up detentions. He didn’t like the forest but he respected it, which was something. He had learned some tricks about where to step and how to avoid the worst areas. Eddie, on the other hand, seemed terrified. Richie could see how the beam of light quivered in his hand. 

Richie looked around, letting his eyes adjust as he thought about what to do. He thought they were near the edge of the forest. Hermione had told them earlier that if they got too far off track they would be directed back- though he shuddered to think of how the forest would do that. They would be getting warnings every thirty minutes so they knew how much time was left.

“Let’s start walking,” Richie said. He had no idea where his friends were but just standing there seemed to be freaking Eddie out. 

“Is that a good idea?” Eddie asked. 

Richie shrugged. “It’s the best one I’ve got.” 

Eddie nodded and the pair started to walk, pausing to listen for sounds or anything to indicate where their friends were. Once or twice, Richie tripped over a vine or root that he swore hadn’t been there before. He was grateful that he had planned better this time, Bev had helped him with a spell to magically keep his glasses on so they didn’t slip off when he stumbled. 

Eddie suddenly stopped and Richie ran into him, he was following so closely. “What Eds?” Richie asked, peering forward. 

“Don’t you see them?” He asked, his voice low. “Those weird horse things, are they dangerous?” 

Richie squinted, looking where Eddie was pointing. There was a small clearing, some sunlight filtering through but he didn’t see anything else. “There’s nothing there.” 

Eddie stomped his foot, “They’re right there!” Eddie pointed again, “There’s six of them, four adults and two babies. Can’t you see them? They look like they’re skin and bones.” 

Richie swallowed, finally realizing what Eddie was seeing. They no longer pulled the carriages at the start of the year, it had been too traumatizing after the battle of Hogwarts when everyone finally saw them. But Richie knew what they were from Care of Magical Creatures. 

“Let’s just go around them,” He said, his hands on Eddie’s shoulders, trying to steer him away. But Eddie refused to move. 

“So you do see them!” Eddie said, “What are they?”

Richie sighed. “No, I don’t but I know what they are. They’re thestrals.” The last thing he wanted was to remind Eddie of his dead father when they were in the middle of a task. 

He felt Eddie tense under him as he remembered what they were. “Oh,” Eddie said, still staring at the creatures. 

“Let’s go Eds, we need to find Stan and Bev.”  

“They’re kinda beautiful.” Eddie said, staring into the clearing. “And they’re supposed to be nice, right?” 

Richie relaxed his hold on Eddie. “Yea, they are. Do you want to go see them?” 

Eddie looked at them for a second longer, seeming to soak in the details. Then he shook his head, “Not now, let’s keep going.” Eddie started walking again. 

“We could come back.” Richie offered a few minutes later. “I could take you to see them.” He cringed, realizing how much it sounded like a date- and a bad one at that, seeing death horses? 

But Eddie was nodding and smiling up at him. “I’d like that,” he said, slipping his hand into Richie’s. 

They made it the first half hour (indicated by a loud gong) without seeing anything else.

“Richie! That’s a quarter of our time!” Eddie said anxiously. “We need a plan.” 

The two stopped and Richie looked around, trying to see anything. He was nervous too, time was slipping away and he wasn’t sure what to do. He swung his flashlight around, trying to think of anything they could do. 

Then he saw it, a few blue lines that lit up as his flashlight passed over them. He paused, making sure they didn’t disappear. “Eds! Look!” He hurried over, seeing that the lines continued as his light hit them. “I bet this is it! We can follow it!” He turned back, excited that he had found something. “Eds?” The smaller boy wasn’t behind him.

“Richie!” 

He heard the scream and took off running. He barely saw Eddie as he was dragged away, caught in some sort of net. Richie ran after him, always several steps behind, until he finally saw what had caught Eddie. A fucking huge spider, sitting on one of the low branches. Richie gulped.

Eddie was caught in the tendrils of the web, struggling to get out. “Richie! Help!” Eddie cried as he saw him. 

“There’s a knife in your fannypack, try to cut yourself out.” Richie told him, trying to keep his voice calm. He looked at the spider, which seemed to be watching him, waiting for him to make a move. Carefully, Richie reached to his chest and grabbed a bottle. 

“Let him go.” He said with as much authority as he could. The spider almost seemed to chuckle, it's thorax bobbing slightly. 

Richie glanced down at Eddie, seeing that he had found the knife and was furiously cutting at the webs. It didn’t seem to be doing anything. Richie looked back up at the spider, which had started to pull Eddie up slowly, towards its mouth. 

Richie raised the bottle and sprayed it straight at its mouth, hitting it right on. The spider screamed and scampered away, dropping Eddie to the ground. He landed with a soft ‘oof’ and Richie ran over. 

“Are you okay?’ He asked, looking at Eddie, still in the web.

Eddie nodded, trying to catch his breath. “What was that?”

“Battery acid,” Richie said then laughed, seeing Eddie’s expression. “It was bug spray.” 

“How did you know that would work?” 

“I didn’t.” Richie was rummaging through his potions, finally finding the one he wanted. “I’m going to pour this on you, it’s supposed to dissolve everything. Try to move to the side so I don’t hit you.” He waited until Eddie moved and carefully poured the potion over the web, watching it disappear under the drops. Once there was a big enough hole Eddie wiggled out. 

Richie offered him his hand and pulled Eddie up. Eddie surprised him by wrapping him in a hug. “Thank you.” He said, his voice muffled in Richie’s shoulder. “That was terrifying.”

“I’ve got you.” Richie told him, rubbing circles in Eddie’s back. “Don’t worry.” He gave them a minute to stand there, letting their heart rates return to normal. Then he told Eddie what he found.

“Brilliant!” Eddie said, “Let’s find our friends.”

Richie found the trail again and they started out, watching for other dangers. They carefully avoided some quicksand and a group of cornish pixies. Another dong rang out, telling them that their time was half over. 

“We’ve got to be close.” Richie said, pausing as he lost the trail. 

Eddie stopped next to him, nodding. “I think so.”  He shone his light around, looking for the lights. 

“Found it!” Richie said, trying to take a step only to find that he was trapped. He looked down, horrified. Neither had noticed as vines curled around their feet, starting up their ankles and to their thighs. Eddie was in the same situation, unable to move and struggling as the vines climbed higher and higher. 

-

**Eddie**

“You need to cut faster, Eddie!” 

“I’m going as fast as I can!” Eddie said, voice an octave higher both from agitation and fear. As soon as they noticed the vines climbing up their legs, Richie had reached for his chest and Eddie for his waist, pulling out knives and using them to start cutting, but for every vine they would cut, they could feel three more wrap around them. “This isn’t working, Richie!”

“Just keep cutting!” Richie insisted, slashing at a vine that was closing around his leg, since he had longer legs, the vines hadn’t made it past his thighs unlike Eddie who could already feel them around his waist. Eddie listened to Richie and didn’t stop cutting and slashing with the knife, until a vine wrapped around Eddie’s wrist and tugged. He gasped in pain and felt the knife fall from his grip. 

“Richie!” Eddie cried, scared. He tried tugging his hand free, but the vine only wrapped itself tighter around it. Richie looked up and Eddie saw the way his face fell when he saw just how trapped Eddie was. “I- I dropped the knife. I can’t see it.” 

They had dropped their flashlights before and without them, the darkness of the forest made it almost impossible to see anything. Eddie had already cut himself several times trying to get the vines off of him and based on his constant swearing, he was sure Richie had the same problem. There was no way Eddie could find his knife now. 

“Take mine.” Richie said, extending the hand that was holding the knife towards Eddie. 

“What about you?”

“I’ll find something else in my bag! Take it Eddie!”

Eddie sighed, reaching out with the arm that wasn’t trapped but the vines around him didn’t allow for much movement and he could barely brush the tip of the knife with his fingertips. 

“I can’t!” Eddie cried, on the verge of panic. Without the knife he couldn’t stop the vines and he could already feel them crawling up his chest, wrapping around it and making the feeling of panic bubbling up in his throat even worse. 

“Bloody hell!” Richie muttered, trying as hard as he could to put the tool in Eddie’s hand, but his movements were also restricted. He groaned in frustration. 

“Richie?” Eddie asked, voice small and scared. 

“Search your fannypack, for- for matches or something!” 

Eddie did as he was told, struggling to open the bag with one hand. He found a box of matches and managed to light one up but the vines were too damp and they wouldn’t catch on fire no matter how hard Eddie tried to do it. “Damn it!” 

“Eddie, you need to calm down.”

“Calm down? We’re trapped and without magic there’s no way we’re getting out of here!” Eddie yelled as he made it through the entire box without success. “We’re going to die strangled by a fucking plant!”

“I’m not going to let you die, Eds.” Richie said, trying to soothe Eddie. He tried to listen to Richie, knowing that freaking out wasn’t helping either of them, but he couldn’t help it. It was hard not to be scared.

“Rich, we should- maybe we need to give up.” Eddie didn’t want to do that but he didn’t see a way out of this and he worried that if they waited longer it would be too late. “We just have to yell ‘butterbeer’ three times if-”

Richie shook his head, “We’re not doing that. Just hang in there, okay?”

He went back to slashing at the vines around him rapidly, trying to free himself so that he could help Eddie but as much as he tried, he couldn’t move faster than the plant. 

When Richie stopped abruptly, Eddie thought that maybe he had realized that he had been right, that they should abandon the task but then Richie did the last thing Eddie expected him to do. 

He started to sing. 

“ _ You charmed the heart right out of me, don’t need no broom, I’m flying free, I think by now it’s plain to see, I’m nothing without you, _ ” Richie had a beautiful voice and even if it wavered at times, Eddie knew that if they were under different circumstances, he would be enamoured with Richie’s singing. Right now, all he could think of was that Richie had finally lost it. 

“Why did you stop? Why are you singing?” Eddie asked, confused and alarmed. The vines had finally wrapped around both of his arms and his chest, rendering him completely unable to move. He could feel the creepers and tendrils brush against his neck and he knew that it was a matter of time before they would close around it, choking him. “Richie? What are you doing?”

“I’m saving our lives!” Richie said, not offering any further explanation. “Do you trust me?” 

Eddie couldn’t understand how singing was going to save them, but he did trust Richie so he nodded. 

“Then I need you to sing with me.”

“Richie why-”

“Eddie!”

“Okay!” Eddie agreed, it wasn’t like he had a better idea. The song Richie had been singing was a hit in the magic world and Eddie had heard his mother sing it several times in the past, so with a shaky voice and one that definitely didn’t sound as good as Richie’s, he started to sing, Richie joining him.

“ _ You charmed the heart right out of me, don’t need no broom, I’m flying free, I think by now it’s plain to see, I’m nothing without you- _ Ah!” Eddie cut himself off when the vines started to tighten around his neck, making it hard to breathe. “Richie, I can’t-”

“You can’t stop, Eds, come on.”

“The vines- I can’t breathe-” Eddie gasped, every breath was harder to draw in than the last and the fact that he was panicking didn’t help.

“Just, focus on me. Eddie, look at me.” Richie said, locking his eyes with Eddie. “Just breathe, Eds, come on.”

Eddie focused on Richie and not the vines threatening to choke him, he was able to slow down his breathing by copying Richie’s. It wasn’t easy, but his throat was no longer closing up. 

“That’s it, baby. Come on.” Richie said, offering a small smile, before starting to sing again. “ _ Your every wish is my command, my fragile heart is in your hand, and now, at last, I understand, the magic about you,” _ Richie sang to Eddie, eyes never leaving him, his voice was soft, soothing and it helped Eddie to stay calm and sing as best as he could. 

When he was starting to lose hope, he felt some of the vines loosen their grip and climbing back down to the ground. It seemed that their singing was working. 

_ “I'm losing all control, my chest is one big hole, inside you'll see my soul, happy as can be, 'cause, babe, you charmed the heart right out of me.” _

The more they sang, the more the vines retreated and soon enough, Richie, who had been less trapped than Eddie to begin with, was able to break free. He rushed to Eddie and grabbed his newly freed hands.

“ _ You charmed the heart right of me, to my whole life you hold the key, you cast your spell and suddenly, I cannot forget you.” _

Eddie wasn’t paying attention to the vines anymore, lost in Richie’s eyes. For a moment he forgot where they were, what was happening and focused only on the words that Richie was singing to him. 

_ “Cause, you charmed the heart right out of me! But I need a heart for loving thee, so give it back, together we, we can love till forever.”  _

They finished the song just as the last remaining vines crawled back to the ground, freeing Eddie. He didn’t notice he could move again until he was able to take a step forward and without thinking about it, drag Richie down for a kiss.

Richie’s lips felt exactly like he remembered, soft and absolutely perfect. He hadn’t realized just how much he’d missed it, kissing Richie, even if it had happened only once before, he was so lost in the moment that it wasn’t until Richie tried to deepen the kiss as he dragged Eddie closer by his waist, that he realized exactly what he had done. 

He let go of Richie’s curls - he hadn’t even noticed his hands tangling in them in the first place -  and stepped back. Eddie saw Richie chase Eddie’s lips with his, before blinking his eyes open and dazedly staring at him. 

Eddie, on the other hand was staring at him with wide, worried eyes.

Richie’s expression turned serious, “Eds-”

“We should get moving!” Eddie interrupted, hurriedly. This wasn’t the time to address what had just happened, in fact, he would be happy if they  _ never  _ talked about it. “We don’t have much time left!”

Richie’s shoulders slumped and he nodded. They found their flashlights and the trail and started following it again, neither of them speaking for a while.

It gave Eddie a lot of time to think.

Ever since they had kissed at the Yule Ball, Eddie hadn’t stopped thinking about doing it again, but after Christmas had come and gone and nothing had happened, other than the time at the room of requirement, when he had been sure Richie was going to kiss him before he knocked over the candle, he had stopped entertaining the idea. Richie hadn’t tried anything since and Eddie didn’t think he could bring himself to take the risk and do it. Or at least, that’s what he had thought. 

He knew he could just blame it on the adrenaline rushing through his veins after almost being suffocated by a plant if Richie asked him about it, but a part of him didn’t want to. A part of him wanted to tell Richie that he had been thinking about doing that for over a month. 

Maybe it was Bev’s insistence or Stan’s not so subtle comments or the fact that even people who didn’t know them, like Hermione Granger seemed to think that Richie was genuinely into him. 

Before entering the forest, each of them had to go through a magic inspection done by Hermione to make sure they weren’t trying to cheat the no magic rule by carrying an extra wand or using a concealing charm. 

When it was Hogwarts turn, Richie had made several inappropriate jokes about just what he was concealing underneath his clothes, making Hermione snort and Eddie flush with embarrassment. 

“Richie, shut up.” 

Richie looked down at him, smirking. “Eds can tell you all about it, Mrs. Granger, after all, he’s well acquainted with my-”

“You’re all good, Mr. Tozier.” Hermione cut in, struggling to fight off a smile. “You’re free to wait for Mr. Kaspbrak over there.”

Richie nodded and walked away, winking at Eddie over his shoulder. Eddie glared at him and tried getting his blush under control, knowing very well that Hermione was intently staring at him. 

“I’m sorry about him.” Eddie said. “His jokes get worse when he is nervous.” 

Hermione nodded, lifting her wand and muttering a spell under her breath. Nothing happened but Eddie could feel something like electricity running through his skin as the magic worked.

“I bet he gets nervous around you a lot, with how much he likes you.” 

“Well, he is my- I mean, we are-”

Hermione laughed, kindly. “I don’t need a spell to know you’re not actually together.” She said, casting another spell. This one made Eddie feel cold all over. “You’re not the first ones to have fake rumors about your love life plastered on the Daily Prophet.”

Eddie nodded dumbly, he had thought everyone believed their fake relationship, but he should’ve known there was no fooling Hermione Granger. The third and final spell felt like calmness spreading through him and Eddie welcomed the feeling, he had been a nervous wreck since he woke up.

Before Hermione sent him on his way, he whispered, “Does he- I mean, do you really think he likes me?” 

She moved closer to Eddie, smiling at him. “When a boy teases you, with as much affection as Richie does with you, it means he likes you. Believe me, I would know.” She winked at Eddie, before ushering him away with a, “Good luck!”

“Oof!” Eddie crashed against Richie’s back, too caught up in his thoughts to notice he stopped walking. “What is it? Is it our friends?” He asked, Richie blocking his view. 

“No, it’s uh, a car.” 

Eddie frowned, moving around Richie to be able to see that there was in fact a car in the middle of the forest. “Why is there a car in the forbidden forest?”

Richie shrugged. “I have no idea. Maybe someone abandoned it here. Maybe it didn’t work anymore.”

The engine roared to life and the front lights switched on almost as if the car heard Richie talk shit about it.  

“I think it still works.” Eddie said, blinking repeatedly, trying to get used to the sudden clarity after walking around in the darkness for over an hour. He couldn’t blame Richie for thinking the car didn’t work now that he could see its terrible condition, with its light blue paint peeling everywhere, a missing door and a shattered front glass. “We should go around it, I doubt singing will get us out of a fight with a car.”

Richie nodded and they resumed walking, glancing back at the car until it was out of view. 

“Richie?”

“Hm?”

“How did you know the singing would work with the plant?”

“I didn’t.” Richie said, shrugging. “I just remembered something Mikey told me once, about plants being like any other living creature, how they feel and hear. He told me music can soothe them. I figured it was worth a try.”

“That was really smart.”

“It was just dumb luck.”

“You saved our lives, Richie.” Eddie said, resting his hand on Richie’s arm, rubbing circles with his thumb. He felt goosebumps appear on Richie’s skin. “Thank you.”

“Well, I promised I wasn’t going to let you die, Eds.” Richie said, smiling down at him. 

Eddie lowered his hand, lacing their fingers together. He snorted loudly, remembering something. “I didn’t know you were a fan of Celestina Warbeck.” 

“Hey, ‘You charmed the heart right out of me’ is a classic.” Richie said, defensively. 

“That song is like a hundred years old.” Eddie said, letting out a laugh at Richie’s blush.

He groaned, embarrassed. “Can we keep this between us? The others will never let me live it down.”

Eddie hummed, thinking it over. “Only if you sing to me again. You know, when there isn’t a murderous plant trying to kill us.”

“Deal.”

The trail lead them to a fallen tree and they had to jump over it, Eddie with the help of Richie, to get to a clearing. There, six people were lying in the grass, over a bed of flowers. 

Richie and Eddie dropped the flashlights and rushed to the two people in the center, kneeling next to Beverly and Stan. 

“Bev! Beverly!” Eddie said, shaking her shoulders but her eyes stayed closed and her breathing even as if she was asleep. He tried to lift her up but it was as if something stronger than Eddie was holding her down. He looked up and found Richie desperately trying to do the same to Stan but to no avail. 

“What are we supposed to do?” Eddie asked. They had found their friends, but they still needed to make it back. And even if they were able to get them off the ground, there was no way they could carry them all the way back to the entrance of the forest. 

“You must awake them first.” A voice from behind Eddie said, he whirled around and saw a centaur, staring at them with disdain from the line of trees. 

“How are we supposed to do that without magic?” Richie asked, giving up on lifting Stan off the ground. 

The centaur shook his head, his dark mane moving with the gesture. “Ignorant, moronic humans. Always asking questions when the answer is right in front of them.” 

Then he turned around and galloped away.

“Thank you for nothing!” Richie cried, then he lowered his voice and muttered, “Stupid bloody mule!”

“He said the answer was right in front of us, what does that mean?”

“Hell if I know.” 

They were looking around, trying to find whatever the centaur had been talking about when the sound of a loud bong erupted through the forest.

It was the third one, meaning they only had half an hour left to figure out how to wake up their friends, find their way out of the forest and beat the other two teams. Not hard at all.   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you guess right? Wrong?  
> What to do you think Richie and Eddie have to do to wake Bev and Stan up?  
> Go ahead and tell us!!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Richie opened his eyes, Eddie had thrown his arms around him in a desperate hug. Richie’s movements had been sluggish but he had hugged Eddie back and whispered to his ear over and over, “I’m okay, we’re okay,” until Eddie had stopped shaking.

**Richie**

Richie let out a small groan. His friends were right in front of him, looking like they were sleeping and not in some strange magical coma, and he could feel their time slipping away. Nothing in his utility belt would help with this. They needed the counter spell or antidote. If only he had his wand! He knew the spell to use for this. But, of course, that wasn’t the challenge. He racked his brain, trying to think of something-  _ anything _ !- to do. He looked around the area, checking the trees and the ground next to their friends. The centaur had said that the answer was in front of him. He could practically feel Eddie thinking next to him, both of them silently starting to panic but neither wanting to admit it. The only saving grace was that the others were there too, at least he and Eddie weren’t last. 

Richie looked at the ground, trying to remember facts about the forest. He went over what he knew - deadly, dangerous, full of things that can kill you. Not very helpful when you needed to wake someone up nicely. 

As he thought about it he heard other voices. Glancing up, he saw the girls from Ilvermorny. They stumbled in the patch, looking like they had had a much worse experience thant Richie and Eddie had. Their robes were torn and singed and one was holding her arm in a makeshift sling. He wanted to ask them what happened but it wasn’t the time. They offered each other a quick ‘hello’ then both teams got back to it, the girls leaning over their friends and muttering together. He felt grateful that they had a hint from the centaur, even if he couldn’t make heads or tails of it. 

He went back to thinking about the forest, trying to remember if anything was used to wake people up, a stream or a plant, anything. He wished that he had paid better attention in herbology or that Mike was there. Richie thought back to potions and what plants went in a waking draught. Finally he remembered something. He started looking for a plant with purple flowers and red leaves.  He could vaguely remember Slughorn telling the class something about how it was used for wakefulness and memory. He was pretty sure that it was normally boiled first but he didn’t have time for that. He hoped it didn’t need to seep in water to be effective. 

“Eddie,” He whispered as he crouched down. “Cover me.” Eddie nodded and shielded him from the girls. 

“What are you doing?” Eddie asked as Richie pulled some of the plants out.

“Hopefully not poisoning our friends.” He said, opening their mouths. “Sorry Stan.” He shoved the plants in and closed his mouth around it, doing the same with Bev. Then they waited. Richie could feel Eddie nervously shifting his weight next to Richie, clearly wanting to ask questions but restraining himself.

For several long moments nothing happened. Richie was starting to think that he had been wrong and was about to start looking for another option when Stan shot up, coughing loudly. Richie thumped him on the back as he hacked the plant up. 

“What the fuck? Where am I?” Stan asked, looking around then he turned to scowl at Richie. “I’m in the forbidden forest aren't I? The last thing I remember is being in McGonagall’s office and her offering me extra credit for helping out with a task.” 

“You're here for us.” Eddie said, kneeling near Bev and checking on her. “Are you okay?” He asked and she nodded, rubbing her eyes. 

“Because you’re the nearest thing to my heart dear Staniel.” Richie said, standing and offering him a hand. Eddie did the same. 

Stan took his hand, looking unhappy about it. He brushed himself off and patted his robes, frowning again. “Where’s my wand Richie?” 

“About that-” Richie started. 

“It’s the task, no wands.” Eddie told them both. “No magic at all.” He glanced at Richie. “It’s been a lot of fun.” 

Stan looked like he wanted to say more but Eddie continued. “And we’re running out of time. So let’s go.” He started shining his lights on the blue lights again and following them. Stan looked at Richie, who shrugged and followed Eddie. Stan and Bev trailed behind, both looking unhappy about the idea of being trapped in the forest without any defenses. 

Richie had no idea how far they had to go. He was just hoping that they had enough time and that they wouldn’t run into anything else. He wasn’t sure he could handle it if they did, especially now that they had two other people to protect. As they walked, Bev asked about what they had encountered. Richie was telling them about the thestrals when he felt something whizzing near his head. He tried to swat it away but felt it again, closer to his ear now. It almost sounded like something was laughing above him.  Shining his light up he saw a small band of blue fairies near his head. They had four arms and large, sharp teeth. Doxys. 

“Bloody hell.” The doxys weren’t bad creatures, though their bites were semi poisonous. Richie had the antidote but didn't want to waste time using it. And he wasn’t sure that he had enough for everyone. The last thing they needed was for someone to fall and need to be carried out. 

“We need to run.” Eddie said, seeing them at the same time as Richie. They were descending on the group now, swinging low and trying to bite them. Stan and Bev at least had their robes, their arms were protected from the attacks. Richie and Eddie had exposed arms. 

“Agreed.” Richie said as he pulled out his cricket bat. Winding up he whacked one of the doxys that got too close. “On three.” He wanted everyone to run at the same time and for him to take up the rear. He was the only one with a weapon and he hoped he could fend them off while the others ran to safety. 

Richie counted to three and the group bolted, Eddie in front with Stan and Bev behind him. Richie ran backwards, trying to hit any that got too close. It didn’t always work, the doxys were as fast as them and seemed to enjoy tormenting him. They would fly close and he would swing but then another would swoop in and nip at him from the other side. He couldn’t move quick enough to keep them all at bay and he felt himself get bit a few times.  Before too long, his arms and neck were stinging. He was starting to feel drowsy, a sure side effect of the poison. 

As he felt his arms starting to seize up Eddie yelled out. “The tent!” Richie spared a glance behind him. The door was open and light was shining through. The group dove through it, watching as the doxys hit an invisible wall and bounced back, angrily shouting at the students. He looked around, seeing only Hermione and the 3 Headmasters in the tent. They walked to the students, asking about their injuries and if they needed attention. 

Richie was about to answer but Eddie responded first. “He does!” Eddie was instantly at his side, holding up his arms and examining the cuts. “There were doxys, he got bit!” He told them frantically. 

“Antidote, blue bottle.” He said, letting himself slump in Eddie’s arms. He could feel the poison making him sluggish and tired but it didn’t matter. They had made it back, they were safe. And they were first. 

-

**Eddie**

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Eds, I’m fine. You need to stop worrying about me and start enjoying the party.” Richie said, taking a sip from his butterbeer, Eddie’s eyes were drawn to the bandages in his arms and he shuddered as he remembered what had happened earlier.

The poison from the doxy bites had made Richie faint right in Eddie’s arms. Stan had helped Eddie lower him to the ground so that he could search for the antidote in his bag. Eddie had been so scared of losing Richie that Bev had to kneel next to him and take the bottle from his shaking hands to pour the contents in Richie’s mouth herself. 

The short time it took for Richie to wake up was hell for Eddie. He didn’t even notice when Michelle and Samantha burst into the tent, along with two other Ilvermorny students just as the final bong went off. 

When Richie opened his eyes, Eddie had thrown his arms around him in a desperate hug. Richie’s movements had been sluggish but he had hugged Eddie back and whispered to his ear over and over, “I’m okay, we’re okay,” until Eddie had stopped shaking. 

After that, there was a lot of movement in the tent as Hermione and Professor Viera rushed outside to look for the twins who hadn’t made it back to the tent before the time was up. 

They all waited anxiously for their return, Eddie supporting Richie as best as he could. When they made it back, Hermione was using her wand to direct Marisa’s unconscious body in the air in front of her. Marcelo was right behind them, limping as he walked and staring at his sister with a worried expression. Eddie felt sorry for him. Just a couple of minutes ago he had been in the same position, sick with worry over Richie. He reached blindly for Richie’s hand, lacing their fingers together, feeling calmness spread through him, knowing that he was okay and right there with him.

The twins were taken to the infirmary right away, while Richie, Eddie and the girls were lead outside the tent where all the other students waited anxiously for the results of the task. When Hogwarts was announced in first place, everyone cheered and Mike, Ben and Bill ran to the front and with Stan’s help they lifted Richie and Eddie on their shoulders. In that moment, Eddie couldn’t stop smiling. They made it out first, even after all they went through. Overall, they were now tied in first place, they just needed to do well on the third task and they could win. They could  _ actually  _ win. 

Afterwards, Eddie had dragged an opposing Richie to the Infirmary to get checked up. Madame Pomfrey had muttered under her breath the entire time about how stupid it was to subject their students to the dangers of the forbidden forest, but in the end she had fixed Richie up and ushered them to the party that was being held in the Hufflepuff common room. 

“I still don’t understand why you insist on showing them off.” Eddie said, gesturing at the bandages. 

“They look badass, Eds. The ladies love it.” Richie said, with a wink. 

Eddie lifted his cup, hiding his pursed lips behind it. Neither had brought up the kiss yet, they hadn’t had a moment alone since the task, not to mention Richie was right, girls had been fawning over him all afternoon, asking him how they had made it out, what was it like going in the forest, if he had been scared. And Richie would answer all of their questions, basking in their attention. It really bothered Eddie, especially because these were the same girls that had made fun of Richie after they came out on third place in the first task. 

“So, I talked to Marcelo,” Ben said, joining the two of them, Bev in tow. “And Marisa is going to be okay. He told me they ran into a troll back there, it knocked her unconscious with a tree branch.”

Eddie gasped, “A troll?” He didn’t want to imagine what could’ve happened if it had been them. How do you defeat a troll without magic?

“Bloody hell! I’m almost glad we had to face those vines instead.” 

“You didn’t tell us how you managed to escape them exactly.” Bev asked, throwing her hands around Ben’s neck. 

Eddie choked on his butterbeer, being reminded of what had happened  _ after  _ they freed themselves. He had yet to tell Beverly about it, but he would rather do it when it was just the two of them. 

Richie shrugged, “My charm works on plants just as well as it does on people.”

“I’m surprised you made it out at all, then.” Bev said with a snort. 

They were joined by Stan and Mike. After the task, Stan had been annoyed at Richie, he hadn’t enjoyed being taken, dropped in the middle of the forbidden forest and dragged through it while a band of doxys chased after them. He was also annoyed at the fact that he claimed to have brushed his teeth at least ten times since that morning but hadn’t been able to get the terrible taste from the plant Richie had used to wake him up off of his mouth. 

“But I was trying to save your life!” 

Stan rolled his eyes at his friend. “My life was never in danger, Richard.” 

“I didn’t know that. I couldn’t take any risks, I need you, Staniel.” Richie said, blowing him a kiss. “You should be grateful I found the flower, I was starting to think I had to wake you up like sleeping beauty.”

Stan scrunched up his face in confusion as Mike let out a loud laugh. Eddie tilted his head to the side in question. “Sleeping beauty? Is that a muggle thing?”  

“It’s a muggle fairy tale, in it Prince Charming had to kiss the princess to wake her up from a curse that put her to sleep.”

Stan gasped in horror, staring at Richie who was making smooching sounds at him. “I would rather die.”

Bev let go of Ben to wrap her arms around Eddie instead. “I would’ve been okay with a kiss from Eddie.” 

“You’re not the only one.” Stan told Bev but he was smirking at Richie who choked on his butterbeer. Eddie ignored Stan’s remark, studying his shoes as if they were the most interesting thing. They all knew about their first kiss, the one that had made it to page seven of the Daily Prophet but neither of them knew what had happened in the forest. “Right, Richie?” 

Richie chuckled nervously, “You never told me you had the hots for Eddie, Staniel. Mike, you might want to keep your eye on your boy.” He said but the words came out stiff and awkward, unlike most of his jokes. 

Before Stan could make another jab at them for Richie to try and deflect it again, Eddie let out a yawn. 

“You tired, Eddie?” Ben asked.

Eddie nodded, eyelids heavy. All of that had happened today was finally catching up with him. “I didn’t get much sleep last night and after the morning we had, I think I’m gonna head to bed.”

Richie jumped in, as soon as Eddie finished talking. “I’ll walk you to your common room, on my way to mine, I’m feeling bloody tired myself.”

Stan tried to fight off a scoff. “You do realize Ravenclaw’s and Slytherin’s common rooms are on opposite ends of the castle, right?”

Richie waved him off, as he grabbed Eddie’s shoulders. “Why are you two always sneaking away from parties?” Bev asked, as Richie steered Eddie away from their friends. 

“It ain’t easy being a champion, Marsh.”

As soon as they exited the room, Darce swooped in front of them, startling them both.

“Merlin’s dick!” Richie exclaimed, jumping back. Eddie chuckled under his breath at the way Richie ducked behind him. “What is it with you and sneaking up on us?” 

“What is it with you and sneaking out from parties?” Darce asked with a smirk. 

“We’re tired, Darce.” Eddie snapped, his patience almost nonexistent when it came to the man. “What do you want?”

Darce sighed, “I know you and I started off with the wrong foot.”

“That’s what you call writing all of those articles about us? Outing Eddie to the world? Using our relationship for entertainment? Talking shit about me?” Richie scoffed, jaw tight and fists clenched. Eddie’s hand curled around one of his fists and Richie relaxed slightly, lacing their fingers together.

Darce’s smirk didn’t disappear, even with Richie glaring at him. “Yes, I’m afraid that’s the business. I am sorry, though and so is the Daily Prophet, which is why they want to give you boys something to apologize for all the negative press.”

“Leaving us alone would be more than enough.” Eddie said, rolling his eyes.

“They’re giving you a date to celebrate on Valentine’s day, all expenses covered.” Darce continued, giving them a charming smile. 

“A date?” Richie asked, “And what do they expect in return?”

“Oh, nothing. Except for complete coverage of the whole thing, of course.” Eddie scoffed and Richie began to argue, but Darce cut in. “Listen, you’re not the only ones who need good press, the Daily Prophet does too and since people seem to love the two of you, especially now that you came out in first place, they will love this and you get a free date to celebrate with your boyfriend. It’s a win-win situation.”

Eddie pursed his lips, thinking it over. He knew Richie was too. He had forgotten that Valentine’s day was coming, but now that he thought about it it was clear that people would expect them to spend it together, just as they had expected them go to the Yule ball with each other. He didn’t trust Darce but couldn’t think of a way even he could turn this against them. After a quick glance at Richie, who shrugged in response, Eddie turned to Darce. 

“Fine, but this better not be some kind of dirty trick.” Eddie said, narrowing his eyes at the man. 

Darce smirked and clapped his hands together. “Excellent. I’ll see you both on February the 14th.” He said, before twirling around and disappearing down the hall. 

“Why do I get the feeling that we’re going to regret this?” 

“Oh, come on, Eds. It’s just a date, free food and smiling for the cameras. Not much can go wrong right?” Richie said, giving Eddie a pat in the back. “Besides, I think we’re getting pretty good at this fake relationship thing, don’t you think?” He added, and started walking, heading for the Slytherin common room. 

He didn’t notice Eddie stayed behind, staring at him with a hurt expression. “Right, we’re pretty fucking great at that.” He muttered, fighting to ignore the way his stomach fell at Richie’s words, but failing miserably. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyy we're back with a completed 2nd task!


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m very romantic!” Richie protested, louder than he intended. He saw Darce smirk and jot something down. Eddie just shrugged. “I’ll prove it.” Richie picked up a berry from their plate. “Open up.” Eddie wrinkled his nose, probably to protest but Richie shook his head. “Come on cutey, let me feed you.” 
> 
> Eddie blushed and opened his mouth, letting Richie place the berry on his tongue. He briefly regretted the impromptu gesture, he couldn’t stop watching Eddie’s lips as he chewed on the berry.

**Richie**

Richie tried not to fidget as he waited for Eddie. It was finally their ‘big date’ as the Daily Prophet kept calling it. It had been written about as an advertisement along with some of the special Valentine’s Day dining options and treats in Hogsmeade. It made Richie feel like he was in a zoo, the way the Prophet talked about featuring them in it and following them throughout the day. It was enough to make Richie wish that they had said no. He didn’t want cameras in his face all day, especially given how things had been since the second task. 

Things were strained between him and Eddie again. It wasn’t like before, where Eddie cut him out entirely. This time, Eddie was just slightly removed. It felt like he was always trying not to stand too close and he made sure to never be alone with Richie. The last time they were really alone was the kiss-

He closed his eyes, trying not to think about it. Richie couldn’t stop replaying Eddie kissing him after they escaped the vines. It had been sudden but perfect. He had been so happy about it at first, it felt like finally things were changing between them. Part of him had been hoping that he could ask Eddie to be his (real) boyfriend today. He had nearly asked when he woke up in Eddie’s arms after the poison wore off but didn’t want him to think he wasn’t in his right mind. Richie was willing to wait until the timing was right. 

But then they never talked about the kiss, or about anything. And now Eddie was acting strangely. Richie didn’t know what to make of it. 

He wanted to fix whatever was wrong. He had tried to ask Bev about it but she refused to tell him anything- though even that felt like confirmation that something was up. Richie was hoping that today would fix whatever that was. The Prophet was paying for everything and he was hoping they could sneak away and talk. 

Assuming Eddie showed up of course. Richie was waiting outside the castle, wearing a jean jacket and house scarf. He was starting to get cold. He had picked the outfit for aesthetics, not warmth. Their friends had all gone on ahead, Richie insisted that they didn’t wait for them. Secretly, he wanted some time alone with Eddie before the date started. Maybe they could work this out before they even got to Hogsmeade and just enjoy the date. Richie liked that plan, especially if it meant that he got to hold Eddie’s hand or sit by him all day as his  _ actual  _ boyfriend. The word made his stomach do flips. 

As he shuffled in place, trying to stay warm, a small second year Slytherin ran out to him, “Hiya Richie, Eddie sent me to tell you that he already left for Hogsmeade and to meet him at Madam Puddifoot’s.” 

Richie frowned. “He sent you to tell me that? When?”

The boy hopped around. “A while ago. He said you’d be in the dorms so I went there first and then someone told me you were down here.” 

His heart sank. They had talked just yesterday about meeting here. There was no reason for Eddie to do this unless he was avoiding Richie, which he obviously was. 

“Thanks kid.” Richie said, trying to give him a small smile before starting off on his own. He debated just skipping the whole thing but didn’t want to deal with the story in the Daily Prophet tomorrow if he did. 

He made it to the tea shop sooner than he wanted. He didn’t know what to say to Eddie, how to talk to him after this. He spent the walk trying to think of why Eddie would be acting like this but couldn’t come up with anything. He was sure that Eddie liked him and didn’t understand why Eddie was being so difficult about things. 

As Richie opened the door he was assaulted by fluttering paper hearts and an enchanted cupid doll that clipped his ear. He hated this spot, finding it sappy and over the top at the best of times. It was even worse now, decorated for Valentines day. It looked like a paper company had vomited red, pink and white paper everywhere. There were hearts and streamers hanging from the low ceiling. It was impossible for him to walk without hitting them. In one corner stood a goblin, warbling out old love songs with a lute. He could feel glitter settling into his hair, worsening his already poor mood. 

With some satisfaction, he saw that Darce was there, drilling Eddie with questions.  _ Wouldn’t have happened if you waited _ , he thought, walking over and clearing his throat. Both men looked at him as he did. Eddie at least had the decency to look embarrassed. Darce grinned his predatory smile, sliding out of Richie’s seat. “I was starting to wonder if you were coming at all.”

“Got held up.” Richie said, trying his best not to glare at Eddie. 

“Interesting,” Darce said, eyes wandering over them both. “There’s no trouble in paradise, right boys?”

“No!” Eddie jumped in, reaching for Richie’s hand across the table. “We’re very happy.” 

Richie could tell Darce didn’t believe him but he nodded. “Well, you two can finally start your date, just ignore me. I’ll be snapping some photos.”

As soon as Darce stepped back Richie snatched his hand back, grabbing a scone and shoving it into his mouth. It was raspberry and white chocolate and much too sweet but he chewed it slowly, intent on making Eddie speak first. 

Eddie gave him a fake smile. “How are you?” He asked, pouring them both tea and handing Richie a cup. 

Richie added a generous amount of sugar and cream before answering. “I’m just bloody dandy Eds. And you?” 

Eddie’s fake smile grew. “I’m perfectly fine Richard.” Eddie was tense, Richie could tell by how he was holding his shoulders and the way he gripped the tea. It was obvious that he didn’t want to be here and Richie tried not to feel too hurt by it. 

Richie sipped his tea, trying not to grimace. Even with the sugar he didn’t like the taste, wishing that he was drinking butterbeer instead. 

“Well of course you are, you walked here with friends. I got stuck waiting outside the castle for someone who had no intention of showing up.” His tone was biting and he didn’t care. Richie hadn’t meant to bring it up but he was upset. 

Eddie flushed deeply and Richie took the opportunity to finally take off his coat and look Eddie over. He was cute, wearing an oversized red sweater with white cuffs. On a normal day Richie would swoon but today it just made him angry. Eddie wasn’t dressing up for him, he was doing it for the cameras.

Richie was wearing the only pink he owned, a flannel shirt. Stan had insisted that he dressed for the date, even helping with his hair. He had been excited about it, pleased with the look but now he didn’t care. He ran a hand through his carefully coiffed hair, messing it up on purpose. 

“Can you boys move closer? Maybe whisper some sweet nothings to each other?” Darce asked, saving Eddie from replying. 

Richie nearly protested but Eddie was already at his side, pressing close to Richie and wiping imaginary crumbs from his chin, his hand lingering as he looked up at Richie. 

“I’m sorry,” Eddie told him quietly, catching Richie’s eyes. “Mike said he was nervous about his first ‘real’ date with Stan and wanted my advice.” Mike and Eddie had gotten surprisingly close over the last few months, bonding over their love of wizarding music and magical creatures. “I sent the second year to tell you hours ago.” 

“Oh.” 

Eddie nodded, licking his lips before speaking again. “I didn’t ditch you. I wouldn’t do that.” 

Richie felt some of his anger dissipate and hated himself only a little for not staying furious at Eddie. “Why didn’t he ask me?” He muttered. “I know Stan better than anyone.” 

Eddie smiled- a real one- and replied, “I guess you don’t strike him as romantic.”

“I’m very romantic!” Richie protested, louder than he intended. He saw Darce smirk and jot something down. Eddie just shrugged. “I’ll prove it.” Richie picked up a berry from their plate. “Open up.” Eddie wrinkled his nose, probably to protest but Richie shook his head. “Come on cutey, let me feed you.” 

Eddie blushed and opened his mouth, letting Richie place the berry on his tongue. He briefly regretted the impromptu gesture, he couldn’t stop watching Eddie’s lips as he chewed on the berry. 

Richie put a careful arm around him, ready to move if Eddie seemed unhappy. But to his delight Eddie nestled closer and Richie fed him another berry. “See?” He said, using his thumb to wipe some berry juice off the corner of Eddie’s mouth. It felt like whatever weirdness they had had over the last few weeks was disappearing, it was finally just the two of them, which was Richie’s favorite thing. 

Eddie nodded, staring up at him. “Very romantic.” 

“Good, be sure to tell Mike. I can romance Stan better than anyone.” 

Eddie laughed, taking a drink from his tea. “I’ll let him know.” Richie could live in that laugh. 

“Boys, this is great. I got some good shots.” Darce said, walking over to them. “You two are so camera ready. I have some questions, if that’s okay?” Richie knew he wasn’t really asking, especially as he pulled up a chair and sat. Both nodded anyway, though Richie wanted to tell him to buzz off. He wanted the time alone with Eddie. 

Darce grinned and flipped through his notebook then looked at Eddie. “Now Eddie, I heard that you have gotten closer to Zacharias Weston, a chaser on the Hufflepuff team. Do you find it easy to talk to someone else who has lost a parent?”

Richie watched as Eddie turned bright red. He tried to picture Zach in his head. It took a second but finally he conjured an image of a slim black man who was a year under them. Richie had noticed him talking to Eddie after the last quidditch game but had refused to read into it, even when he saw how close he was standing to Eddie. But now, seeing Eddie’s flush and how he struggled to respond Richie realized he was a fool. This was probably why Eddie had been acting strangely, he wanted to ‘break up’ with Richie so he could date Zach. It made sense. 

“I- we’re friends. Just friends.” Eddie replied, his eyes darting from Richie to Darce. 

“Of course, I’d never suggested anything else.” Darce replied with a smile that was all teeth. “Richie what do you think of Zach?”

“I think he’s bloody great.” Richie spat out, feeling jealousy curl in his chest. 

“No issues then, with him and Eddie having those one on one practices?”

One look at Eddie confirmed that it was true, his mouth had fallen open and he was bright red. The monster in Richie’s chest roared and he knew he couldn’t be here any longer.  

“I just remembered, I need to leave.” Richie said, standing and grabbing his coat. “Thank you so much Darce, for all your help.” He spat as he spun on his heels, whacking all the streamers and balloons out of the way as he walked. He heard Eddie calling for him but he didn’t stop. He was seeing red, and not just from all the fake hearts. 

-

**Eddie**

It took only a minute for Eddie to react and rush after Richie, ignoring Darce’s fake apologies for stirring trouble, but when he made it outside Richie was nowhere to be seen and Eddie had no idea of where he could’ve disappeared to. 

He made his way through town, searching the crowds of people around him and peeking inside every window, trying to find Richie, but seeing only happy couples enjoying their Valentine’s Day, just like him and Richie should’ve been doing.  _ Except, your date wasn’t real _ , Eddie thought, angrily wrapping his arms around him as he kept walking.

As he passed in front of Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, he spotted Bill joking around with a Headless hat, trying to make Audra laugh. He also saw Ben and Bev curled up together inside the bookstore, while Ben read a book to Bev and she drank from a steaming cup. Then he was forced to duck behind a group of people that were singing love songs to the passing couples to avoid running into Stan and Mike who were walking hand in hand down the street. He didn’t want to have to explain why he was on his own or why Richie had bolted from their date. Eddie hated that this was all just so easy for their friends, while him and Richie did nothing but struggle.

And now Eddie had messed up. And he had messed up  _ bad _ . Back at Madam Puddifoot’s that wasn’t the first time he had seen Richie angry but it was the first time that anger was directed at him and the worst part was that he couldn’t even blame it on Darce. Sure, he had been the one who brought up Zach but it was Eddie who Richie was mad at because, pretend relationship or not, Eddie had lied to him. 

When Eddie had kissed Richie during the second task, he had worried that he had ruined everything. There had been no cameras around, no excuse for Eddie to do that other than he wanted to. Everything was out in the open and when Richie didn’t push him away and returned the kiss instead and Eddie had hoped that that was what they needed to go from fake boyfriends to real ones, but then Richie had said that they were getting good at pretending to be together and all of Eddie’s doubts came back to him and with it, his worry that Richie’s feelings didn’t match his. And when Richie didn’t bring up the kiss and carried on as if nothing had happened, Eddie figured it was time to accept that their relationship would never become real. 

But their friendship was and Eddie didn’t want to pull back from Richie just because he had made the mistake of catching feelings for his friend, so when Richie insisted on spending most of his time with him, joining Eddie for every meal, walking him to class, even studying with him, Eddie went along with it. But as much as he tried, he knew he was acting differently and to everyone who didn’t know Richie and Eddie weren’t actually together, Darce included, it might seem like something was going on, especially when Zacharias Weston came into the picture. 

Eddie had exchanged a couple of words with him in passing before, but it wasn’t until he approached Eddie after a quidditch game, asking for advice to improve his flying technique, that the two of them started really talking. 

Eddie found out that Zach had lost his mother recently, she had been a big fan of quidditch but never got the chance to see her son play. He wanted to make her proud and he told Eddie there was no one better to help him than Slytherin’s best chaser. They started practicing together and hanging out afterwards, and Eddie never told Richie about it. He was trying to avoid trouble and to save himself from having to tell Richie that there was nothing going on between him and Zach, that he didn’t like him like that, as sweet of a guy as he was, because he was busy pining over Richie instead. 

In the end, it had all blown up in his face. 

Eddie sighed, coming to a stop in front of Honeydukes. He had hoped after Darce left them alone for the day Richie and him could visit the sweet shop. While Eddie’s sweet tooth couldn’t rival Beverly’s, he liked to enjoy his fair share of nougat chunks and honey-flavored toffees every once in a while. He doubted that was going to happen now, at least not in Richie’s company.

He made it through the entire town without seeing Richie. He was about to give up, thinking that maybe Richie had headed back to the castle, when he saw him, sitting on a bench, arms crossed, aggressively munching a Liquorice Wand and glaring at every passing couple.

Eddie walked towards him, and as he did he felt his anxiety starting to bubble up at the thought of having to face him. 

“I don’t understand how you can eat that,” Eddie said, with a nervous laugh. “They taste awful.” 

Richie took another angry bite from the candy, without looking at Eddie as he slipped into the space next to him. “What do you want Eddie?” He snapped and Eddie flinched at the tone in his voice. 

“We, uh. We didn’t finish our date.”

Richie huffed, “I’m not in the mood to put on a show.” He said and Eddie felt a pang of hurt at his words. “Why don’t you ask Zach to join you instead?” He added, voice dripping with sarcasm. 

“It’s not what you think, Richie. Darce was just trying to stir something up.” 

“So you haven’t been having one on one practices with him?” 

“Yes but-”

“And spending time with him?”

“Well-”

“All the while you’ve also been avoiding me.” 

“I haven’t been avoiding you!” Eddie was quick to respond. “We’ve been spending time together!”

Richie rolled his eyes, “Thanks to me and me only. You’ve been distant.”

“I- I have not.” Eddie faltered. 

Richie groaned, annoyed. “Yes, you have! You’ve been acting weird, since-” He trailed off, staring at Eddie with a troubled expression, when he spoke again, he did it with a small voice. “You’ve been weird since the second task, since you kissed me.”

Eddie gasped, for over a week they hadn’t approached the subject of their kiss and Eddie had hoped to escape this conversation forever. 

“I- uh.”

“And now this whole thing with Zacharias-”

Eddie grabbed on to that, trying to stir the conversation to a topic that didn’t include their kiss. He rolled his eyes, “Fucking hell, Richie. You’re acting like a jealous boyfriend.”

“Because I am, Eds!” Richie huffed, standing up abruptly, running his hands through his hair in frustration. “I  _ am  _ jealous!” He turned around to stare at Eddie and his expression was broken and vulnerable.

Eddie blinked, surprised by the outburst. He could feel people staring at them, no doubt curious about the screaming match that was taking place in the middle of street, but Eddie didn’t care about them, not right now. Right now, he was struggling to come up with something to say. Richie sighed, falling back on the bench, shoulders sagging. The anger seemed to have been drained from him, leaving a tired expression in its place.

“And you know what the worst part is?” He asked, giving Eddie no time to answer. “That I have no right to be jealous, because I’m not your real boyfriend, Eddie, because this whole thing is fake.”

“Stop saying that.” Eddie muttered, finally finding his voice.

“What?”

“Stop calling this,  _ us _ ,” He gestured the space between them, “Fake.”

“But that’s what it is, isn’t it? Just a show we put on for the cameras? Because that’s what it bloody seems like, Eddie.” Richie asked, bitterly. “Back at Madam Puddifoot's, that’s the longest you’ve talked to me in the previous week, the closest you’ve sat to me. And it was only because we were in front of Darce!”

“Richie-”

“No Eddie, I get it. You don’t like me and that’s- that’s fine but I like _you_. I have for a while, and I thought I could do this, pretend to be with you, pretend that you want to be with me, but I just. I can’t. Not anymore.” 

Richie stared at Eddie, as he tried to come up with something, anything to say, but he was at a loss of words. The silence was interrupted by an old lady pushing a trolley filled to the brim with red roses, chocolate boxes and magical Valentine’s card towards them.

“Can I interest you boys with something?” 

Eddie opened his mouth to say no, but Richie pulled out some galleons from his pocket and handed them over in exchange for one of the flowers. 

“Happy Valentine’s day.” The woman said, before dragging the trolley away. 

Richie sighed, staring at the rose as it danced on his fingers. “Here, give this to Zach. If you hurry, the two of you can still go on a date before the day is over.” He said, refusing to look at Eddie as he accepted the rose, their fingers brushing momentarily.

Eddie sat there and watched as for the second time that day Richie walked away from him, hands in his pockets, head hanging low.

But this time Eddie wasn’t letting him get away. 

“Richie, wait.” Eddie said, coming to a stop in front of him. 

“It’s okay, Eds.” Richie said, turning around and offering a smile but it was a sad one. “I’ll explain everything to Darce and by morning everyone will know you and I were never together.”

“But that’s not what I want.”

Richie narrowed his eyes at Eddie, confused. “Then what do you want? You can’t be with Zach if everyone thinks we’re dating.”

Eddie groaned,“I don’t want to be with Zach!”

“Fine, with someone else then.”

“I don’t want to be with anyone else either! I just- I want.” Eddie sighed, he didn’t understand why this was so hard.

Richie stared expectantly at him as Eddie struggled to find the right words to say. He sighed, “Eddie-”

“I want to be with you, Richie!” Eddie blurted out and he watched as Richie’s eyes widened in surprise, before quickly turning into annoyance. 

“I already told you I can’t do the whole fake dating thing anymore.” 

“That’s not- I don’t- ugh.” Eddie groaned, rolling his eyes. He thought that he was being clear enough but apparently Richie might need more than Eddie’s admission. After all the confusion and the miscommunication, Eddie couldn’t blame him for wanting something more real.

Which was why he grabbed Richie by the lapels of his jacket and dragged him down, their lips colliding in a kiss. Richie yelped and grabbed onto Eddie’s arms before melting into him. Eddie tried to convey all of his feelings into the kiss knowing that he wasn’t the best when it came to speaking them out loud.

When they pulled apart, Richie blinked repeatedly at Eddie. “You’re going to give my heart bloody whiplash, Eds.” He said, then he frowned. “Please tell me that wasn’t you trying to put on a show.”

Eddie shook his head. “I didn’t kiss you because there were cameras around, Richie.” He said, softly brushing Richie’s curls back from where they had fallen to his face. “I kissed you because I like you, not Zach or anyone else,  _ you _ .” Richie’s breath hitched in his throat as Eddie continued. “I don’t want you to tell Darce that we’re not together, I want us to be together. For real this time.” 

Richie was nodding his head before Eddie was done speaking. “I want that too, Eds. I was going to ask you. Today.”

“You were?”

“Yeah, I thought that when you kissed me, during the second task I thought we were both on the same page.” Richie explained. “And when you started acting weird I thought it was just you being nervous but when Darce brought up Zach, I figured I had read it all wrong.”

“You didn't, nothing happened with Zach. I was acting weird because that night you said we were getting good at pretending and I thought  _ I  _ was the one who misunderstood everything.”

“Stan was right,” Richie said with a grimace. “We really are terrible at this.” 

Eddie snorted, nodding in agreement, he grabbed Richie’s hand. “It’s still Valentine’s day, you know?” He whispered, watching their fingers as he laced them together. “We can still have our date. A real one, this time.”

Richie gave him a bright smile, squeezing Eddie’s hand. “What about Darce? And our date at Madam Puddifoot’s?”

“I don’t care about Darce.” Eddie told him, and he scrunched up his nose. “And I don’t want to go back there. I would rather go to the Three Broomsticks and have some butterbeer than to a place where cherubs occasionally throw pink confetti at you.”

Richie’s smile grew and leaned down to quickly kiss him, one, two, three times. Eddie laughed, pushing Richie away half heartedly. “What?”

“Nothing, Eds, you’re just perfect.” Richie said as he started to drag Eddie away, towards the inn. “Come on, cutey, we have to make up for lost time.” 

“Wait!” Eddie said, stopping him. He freed himself and ran back to the bench they had been sitting on, he picked up the red rose Richie had bought and that Eddie had dropped, sometime during their argument. 

He took out his wand, and with it he wove the rose’s stem into his sweater, like a brooch. “Now we can go.” Eddie said, grabbing Richie’s hand again and dragging him through the streets.

-

“Eddie! Eddie, wake up!” 

“Beverly, you can’t be here!”

“Shut up, Sinclair!” Beverly said, shaking Eddie, trying to wake him up. “Edward Kaspbrak, wake up!”

“What the fuck, Bev?” Eddie grumbled, not entirely awake yet. “You do know this is the boys’ dormitory, right?” 

“You do know I don’t care, right?” She said and she dropped something on Eddie’s chest. “Explain this!”

Eddie sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes before opening them  to find Bev glaring at him and pointing at the Daily Prophet that laid on his lap. The article was titled ‘Trouble in paradise’ and it featured a picture of him and Richie that Darce must’ve taken before Richie stormed off from the tea shop. 

Eddie scoffed, “Darce really doesn’t waste his time.”

“What is this, Eddie? Did you and Richie broke up? Did he do something? Did  _ you  _ do something?” Bev insisted, punching Eddie’s arm. Repeatedly.

“Damn it, Bev! Stop that!” Eddie said, covering himself. 

“Then explain! We’re best friends and somehow I always find out about everything through some newspaper.”

“I was going to tell you yesterday, but you came back awfully late.” Eddie said, with a smirk. “What were you and Ben up to, Bev?”

She pointed an accusing finger at him, “Don’t make this about me. Now tell me, what’s this?” 

Eddie sighed and he explained what had gone down at Hogsmeade and how Richie and him were not broken up but actually together at last. She listened in silence as Eddie told her about their real date, in which they drank butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks and then bought a bunch of candy at Honeydukes before Richie walked Eddie to his common room, making sure to kiss him goodnight before he left. Throughout the entire time he was telling the story, Eddie couldn’t stop smiling. He didn’t think he had stopped smiling since yesterday afternoon.

When he was done, Bev smiled pleasantly at Eddie. Before punching him again. 

“Ow!”

“I fucking told you so, Eddie!” Bev said, without any real anger in her voice. “You stubborn idiot, you should’ve just listened to me.” She added with another punch.

“Stop punching me, Bev!” 

“You deserve it. For not listening to me and for making me think something bad had happened with you and Richie.”

“I’m sorry, Bev.”

She waved him off. “Don’t worry.” Bev said, and she smiled fondly at her friend. “I’m fucking happy for you, Eddie.”

Eddie smiled at her, and felt a blush appear on his cheeks. “Thank you, Bev.”

“I am really happy for you too, Eddie, but I would appreciate if you told Beverly to leave our dorm so I can change.” Lucas said, glaring at the two of them from his own bed. “I’d like to have breakfast before the end of this year.”

Beverly rolled her eyes, “You do know this is a magic school, don’t you Lucas? I’m sure there is a spell just for that.”

“Don’t taunt him, Bev.” Eddie said. “He can’t function without his morning coffee.” 

“Fine, I’ll leave. But I’m taking this,” She grabbed a handful of Fudge Flies from Eddie’s night table. “With me. Hurry up, Eddie, I’m sure your boyfriend is waiting for you!” 

She left the dorm, blowing a kiss to Lucas on her way out. Eddie ignored his angry muttering and hurried to get ready, eager to see Richie,  _ his boyfriend _ , again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes was at 93 Diagon Alley. Fred and George were known to be looking to buy Zonko's Joke Shop and move theirs to Hogsmeade. With Fred's death it was unclear if the purchase was made but I want to believe George carried on with the plan to honor his twin.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Rich.” Eddie whispered, between kisses. “Come on, we still have to go over Blast-Ended Skrewts.” He said. Mike had given him a list of tips on how to fight them and it was important that they checked them out.
> 
> Richie hummed in appreciation, “Oh, baby, I love it when you talk magical creatures to me.” He whispered against Eddie’s lips. “It really gets me going.”

**Eddie**

Eddie let out a long suffering sigh. “Richie, you can’t answer every riddle I give you by saying your mom.” He said, rolling his eyes at his boyfriend. 

“You set yourself up for that one, Eds. What gets wetter and wetter the more it dries? Come on!”

“A towel, Richie, that’s the answer.”

“That’s boring.” Richie scoffed. “Why are we doing this again?”

Eddie sighed again, sagging against the couch. “You know why, Rich.” 

They were currently in the room of requirement, which had become  _ their _ place in the past year. Eddie was sitting sideways on the couch, feet propped up on Richie’s lap. Richie was lazily running his hands up and down Eddie’s legs while Eddie read some riddles to him. It was practice, in case they had to face a sphinx in the third task, just like Harry Potter had in his own time. 

Professor McGonagall told the six champions that like him, they would be entering a maze where they would have to ‘face the greatest hardships and dangers so far’, which was ominous but useless. Hoping to be prepared for anything they asked their friends for help and made a list of everything people had faced in past tournaments. It was a lot. From deadly creatures to spells and enchantments, all the while making their way through a giant maze in a race against time and the other champions.

It was terrifying, but Eddie felt the slightest relief knowing that he would have Richie there with him.

They complemented each other well and it had been a long, hard process, but the two of them were more in sync now than ever. They would be fine. They just needed to practice and that included going over the list of riddles Stan had put together for them. Eddie wanted to go through the entire thing before calling it a day but seeing the way Richie was struggling not to doze off, he didn’t think it would happen.

It had been a tiring day after all. They had spent the morning practicing duelling spells with Beverly, who didn’t let them rest until they Bill had interrupted them, dragging a wooden trunk into the room of requirement. Somehow he had managed to snatch a boggart from professor Spinnet’s office without him finding out and sentencing him to an entire year of detention. 

“There were boggarts in the last tournament.” Bill explained. “I figured it wouldn’t hurt to prepare for them.” 

Richie had volunteered to go first, stepping in front of the trunk before Bill magicked it open. The moment the lid was off a werewolf bursted out of the trunk, making the four of them jump back, Richie in particular. Eddie saw the way his jaw clenched and his fingers tightened into fists. The werewolf moved slowly towards him, showing his sharp teeth in an aggressive snarl. Richie fumbled with his robes, trying to find his wand without taking his eyes off the boggart, Eddie itched to help him, worried as he watched the creature move closer and closer to Richie. 

He finally drew out his wand, shouting  _ ‘Riddikulus’ _ just as the werewolf leapt at him. The spell hit it mid-air and Richie stumbled back, landing on the floor with a thud just as the werewolf turned into a stuffed wolf toy and fell on the ground in front of him. Richie laughed, and so did Eddie, Beverly and Bill. The boggart retreated, defeated. 

Eddie helped Richie up, nervous now that it was his turn to face the boggart. Richie gave him a grin, but he still seemed shaken up. “There’s nothing to worry about, Eds. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.”

Eddie didn’t know what that meant, but he knew that facing one’s biggest fear was anything but easy. He shuddered and stepped in front of the trunk, waiting for his turn.

He wasn’t surprised to see the boggart take the form of Sonia Kaspbrak, but he still flinched at the sight of his mother. It was close to a year since he saw her last and he had almost forgotten what she looked (and sounded) like when she was angry. And boy, was she angry. She came at Eddie, bellowing about what an ungrateful son he was, signing up for a tournament that would get him killed, after all she had done for him, she screamed about how disappointed his father would be if he was here. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Eddie saw Richie tense up at the sight of her, he hadn’t met her or seen her, but it didn’t take a lot for him to realize who she was. She kept moving towards Eddie and he felt Richie shift next to him, ready to jump in front of Eddie to attract the boggart’s attention back to him.

He didn’t get to do it. Just before her mother’s hands closed around his shoulders, Eddie raised his wand at her, his hand shaking slightly and yelled  _ ‘Riddikulus’ _ with as much strength as he could muster. 

The spell took away the boggart’s voice, silencing it. The absurdity of a muted Sonia still gesturing wildly, her face bright red and her eyes looking like they might pop out made Bill, Bev and Richie burst into laughter and the boggart retreated back to the trunk.

Eddie let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding, he felt tired and drained even if the encounter lasted only a couple of minutes. 

After that, Bev and Bill had left them alone. Eddie had expected Richie to say something about what he saw, but instead when it was just the two of them in the room, he had dragged Eddie in for a kiss, effectively erasing the image of his mother from his mind.

A loud snore snatched Eddie out from his thoughts and he saw Richie’s neck bent awkwardly, his mouth slightly open as he slept. Eddie nudged him awake with his foot. 

Richie groaned, blinking his eyes open. “No more riddles, Eds, please. I hate them.”

Eddie snorted at him. “I can tell. How do you even get through the eagle door knocker in the Ravenclaw tower?” He wondered, curious. 

“I usually don’t.” Richie said, shrugging. “I have Stan for that.”

“You won’t have Stan in the maze, though.”

“No, but I’ll have you, Eds baby and you’re better company than Stan.” Richie said, flashing a sweet smile at him. 

Eddie lowered his head, trying to hide his blush from Richie. “Don’t let Stan hear you say that.”

“Oh, he knows.” Richie said. “No one’s better than my cute, clever  _ boyfriend _ .” 

Eddie’s mouth curled up in a smile like it did whenever Richie referred to him as his boyfriend. “Okay, but what if we get separated? Or if you have to leave me behind?”

Richie gasped loudly, his hand flying to his chest. “I would never leave you behind, Eds!”

“Even if it costs you the tournament?”

“Eds.”  Richie said,  gently pushing  Eddie’s legs off  of his laps and crawling  towards him, until he was  hovering over Eddie, their faces  merely inches apart. “I would rather  lose the tournament, than losing you.” He  said, lowering himself just enough to kiss  Eddie. 

Eddie  sighed before  arching up into  the kiss, hands flying  to Richie’s curls. No matter  how many times they had kissed  since Valentine’s Day (and it had  been a lot of times) Eddie wasn’t used  to it. Every time they kissed it felt like  the first time and Eddie couldn’t get enough of  it. 

“What about you?” Richie asked, between kisses. “Would you leave me behind?”

Eddie hummed in thought. “That depends.”

“What?”

“Are you like dying? Or just unconscious? Maybe hurt?”

“Does it matter?!” Richie cried, offended.

Eddie tried to suppress the laughter that was bubbling up inside him. “I mean, we’re talking about a thousand galleons prize. Can’t I just come back for you after?” 

Richie gaped at him, not believing what he was hearing, until Eddie bursted into laughter. Richie huffed, “Very funny, Eds.” 

Eddie was still laughing when he dragged Richie down for another kiss. “I wouldn’t leave you either, Rich.” He said, against his lips. 

“Good.” Richie whispered, and moved in to deepen the kiss. 

They made out for a while, until Eddie sobered up enough to remember what they were supposed to be doing. 

“Rich.”  Eddie whispered,  between kisses. “Come on, we  still have to go over Blast-Ended  Skrewts.” He said. Mike had given him a list of tips on how to fight them and it was important that they checked them out.

Richie  hummed in  appreciation,  “Oh, baby, I love  it when you talk magical  creatures to me.” He whispered against  Eddie’s lips. “It really gets me going.” 

Eddie  snorted, his face scrunching  up. “You’re an idiot.” He said,  with a short laugh. Richie shrugged,  as much as he could in his position  but other than that, he ignored Eddie’s  quip in favor of leaving a trail of kisses down  his boyfriend’s neck. “Rich.” 

Richie sighed, “ _ Fine _ .” He said, pouting and crawled off of Eddie. His lips were red and slick with spit and the sight was just as distracting to Eddie as was their kissing. 

He was still staring at Richie’s mouth when he yawned, clearly tired.

“Actually, I think it’s enough for today. You’re exhausted. Come on.” Eddie said, standing up and offering his hand to Richie. “I’ll walk you to your common room.” 

Richie gave him a lazy smile, accepting his hand and letting Eddie drag him to the door.

“What about Blast-Ended Skrewts?”

“They can wait.” Eddie said, lacing their fingers together. “Besides we don’t want your parents to think I’m not letting you get enough sleep, do we? I need to make the best impression when I meet them tomorrow.”

Richie smiled, leaning down to kiss Eddie’s cheek. “There’s no way they won’t love you, Eds.”

-

**Richie**

Despite his show of confidence in front of Eddie, Richie was nervous about the meeting. He loved his parents, they had put up with his strange sense of humor and all the odd little things that happened when he was a kid (they were convinced he was a clever prankster until his Hogwarts letter came, explaining all those cups that disappeared and reappeared on the tops of cupboards). 

But the magical world confused them. They tried to understand it, especially when 12 year old Richie came home from his first year, rambling about hippogriffs and moving staircases. They had listened, slightly confused but proud as he showed his grades- and then asked what exactly an O and an E meant. 

They were also accepting when he came out as bi, asking a few questions but mostly saying they wanted him to be happy. Richie never doubted that he was well loved but he also knew that he confused his parents. 

Eddie was the first person he was bringing to meet his parents. No one else had been important enough. They’d only been together a short time but Richie knew that this was something real. He desperately wanted everything to go perfectly. He wanted his parents to love Eddie as much as he did and wanted Eddie to get along with them. He’d bought treats from Honeydukes for them, tucked away in his jacket, and had been trying to prep Eddie for the muggle world. They were meeting his parents at a pub in London, some place quiet. 

From the start things were complicated. Eddie had never used the muggle underground and got trapped in the turnstile when they used the underground, Richie had to stop him from pulling out his wand to magic it to make it turn. 

“Eds! No.” Richie grabbed his hand, beeping his subway card again to let Eddie through.

“It tried to trap me,” His boyfriend replied, glaring at the bars. 

“I know Eds, come on, or we’ll miss the train.” Richie tugged Eddie along but he kept trying to stop to look at everything. He was confused by the non-moving pictures and fascinated by how the doors opened on the subway cars. So much so that his hand nearly got stuck in it before Richie pulled him back.

“Haven’t you been in muggle London before?” Richie mumbled, checking Eddie’s hand as they sat to make sure he wasn’t hurt. 

“Mum doesn’t trust it. She thinks they’ll trap us to learn our secrets.” Eddie said, still staring around the car. Richie scoffed, unsurprised to learn of another thing Sonia feared. “Why are people all looking down at those little books?” 

Richie glanced around. “They’re phones Eds, and computers.” He wasn’t sure how to explain what a smart phone was, he barely understood them. “They’re called blackberries.” 

Eddie frowned at the phones. “Like the fruit? Do you eat them?” 

“No, you can’t eat them.” Richie said, hiding a smile behind his hand. It was rare that Eddie was so openly curious, or that Richie got to be the one who knew more about the world. He felt like he was still learning so much about the wizarding world, it was nice to be the one who knew more for once. Eddie fired so many questions at him that they nearly missed their stop, resulting in Richie again grabbing Eddie and pulling him off the car. 

As they emerged from the underground Richie nearly lost him again. Eddie kept walking to shops, peering in the windows. “Richie they’re selling brooms!” He exclaimed, pointing to a window. 

Richie glanced back. “They’re for sweeping.” Eddie had found a home goods store and was staring, looking at the cleaning supplies. “Come on, we’re gonna be late.” 

“But I want to look at them. They had some other strange mechanical things too.” Eddie said, trying to take one last look at the store. Richie smiled. He loved how excited Eddie was. He seemed to love the cars and all the electronics the most, even if he didn’t trust them. Richie promised himself that a future date would include taking Eddie around London and letting him roam into whatever store he wanted. 

Finally they reached the pub, ten minutes late. 

“Wait,” Eddie pulled to a stop, looking up at the sign. 

Richie looked back. “Eds we gotta go inside, that’s how it works.”

He fiddled with his sweater then asked quietly. “What if they don’t like me?” It was like Eddie had just realized what was about to happen. “I don’t know any muggles Richie. I’ve never met any. What if they think I’m a freak?” 

Richie grabbed Eddie’s cheeks in his hands and kissed him soundly. “They won’t Eds. Just be your charming adorable self and they’ll fall for you, just like I did.” 

“Promise?” 

Richie kissed him again. “ _ Promise _ .” Eddie relaxed, nodding in Richie’s hands. “But, maybe try to limit the quidditch talk.” Richie added as he opened the door. He hadn't ever explained that to his parents, it was another level of the wizarding world, one he wasn’t sure they were ready for.

He found his parents quickly, sitting in a booth near the window. “Mum, Dad, this is Eddie. Eddie, Maggie and Went.” 

Eddie went in for a handshake but Maggie shook her head. “We’ve heard enough about you to hug.” She stood, pulling Eddie into a tight hug. He let out a surprised squeak before hugging her back. He and Went exchanged a firm handshake as Richie slid into the booth, sitting by his mom and Eddie. 

“So Eddie tell us everything.” Maggie said, beaming at him. “Are you in the same house as Richie? Is that how you met?” 

Eddie shook his head. “I’m in Slytherin, different house. We met during a shared class a few years ago.” Richie was grateful that Eddie didn’t go into the specifics. That they had met during Care of Magical creatures when they had been partnered up. Richie had been so distracted by Eddie that he dropped a bucket of flobberworm goop on the floor and slipped in it, grabbing Eddie and taking him down too. It was a memorable first meeting if nothing else. 

Maggie frowned slightly. Richie knew that she was remembering his description of the houses, that Slytherin had the worst reputation. “He’s really smart Mum, and brave.” Richie added, trying to interrupt the train of thought before it settled. “And he’s good at classes, especially Charms.”

She nodded slowly then Went jumped in. “And both your parents are,” He dropped his voice. “Wizards?” 

Richie watched his parents expressions as Eddie nodded. “Yea my dad played...” Eddie hesitated, glancing at Richie. “A wizard sport. And my mum works in a shop.” 

“Played? Is he retired?” Went asked, sipping his beer. 

Richie felt Eddie stiffen and he put a hand in his thigh. “No dad, I told you. He died.” Richie said quietly, noticing how still Eddie got. 

Both his parents looked stricken. “I’m sorry dear, we forgot,” Maggie patted Eddie’s hand. Then she looked at Richie, trying to change the subject. “Tell us about the tournament dear, we only heard about it from your letter.”

This was better ground for both of them. Richie let Eddie explain while he filled in the details so his parents would understand. Eddie relaxed and had fun- and even managed not to marvel too much as his dad paid with a muggle money. Richie gave his parents the candy, reminding them to open the chocolate frogs at home.

He was a little sad as they left, like he always was when he said goodbye. He’d be seeing them again at the third task, which was barely a six weeks away, but until then it was only letters. He hugged them both then smiled as Eddie did the same. 

“Do you think they liked me?” Eddie asked, glancing back as they walked away. 

Richie leaned over, kissing Eddie. “They loved you. They might adopt you Eds.” 

Eddie smiled up at him. “Really?”

“Really.” Richie said, glancing at his watch. “We’ve got some time before we have to get back, want to pop in some shops?”

Eddie nodded eagerly, “Can we go look at those brooms?”

Richie laughed, “I think you’ll be disappointed but sure, let’s go.”

Eddie wasn’t disappointed. Instead he marveled at muggle cleaning supplies and everything else. They spent a few hours walking around London, Richie sharing stories of growing up without magic. It was a good day, Richie decided, looking at Eddie as he licked his dripping ice cream, the first of many he hoped. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What if we just wrote a whole fic about reddie exploring muggle London? bc that'd be pretty adorable


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Images of his boyfriend lying bloodied on the floor flooded Eddie’s mind and he looked down at his coin hoping to see it had turned blue since the last time he checked it.
> 
> It hadn’t.
> 
> “Damn it, Richie. Where are you?” He muttered, but instead of his boyfriend’s voice answering him, like Eddie had hoped, what he heard was a grunt coming from his right.
> 
> Skin prickling with fear, he spared a glance in the direction of the sound, jaw clenching when he saw what it was.

**Richie**

Richie took a deep breath, trying to ready himself for the maze. He was staring straight ahead at the enormous hedges that had popped up seemingly overnight. They were easily over 3 meters high, he could barely see the top of them.  He thought about the rumors he’d heard, all based on past tournaments- that you couldn’t walk through the greenery, it would turn into a hard, cement like substance if you tried and that you couldn’t use any spell that would let you see over the edges, nothing to raise you up or create holes in the hedges. They’d immediately form a cocoon around you and you’d be disqualified. At least the goal seemed easy enough- find your partner, find the cup. Partners had to finish together.  If you ran into trouble shoot up a flair. Easy Peasy. 

Eddie and Richie were in second place overall, which meant that they got to enter the maze second. He didn’t know where Eddie was, all the contestants were at their own entrances, spaced far enough apart that Richie couldn’t see anyone else. He didn’t know if that was good or bad. He felt all alone here but he also didn’t want to see anyone and get more nervous. 

He and Eddie had discussed at length how to find each other -all muggle technology was banned so no walkie talkies. They could use voice amplification but it meant that the things in the maze would hear them too. Richie had offered to just ‘accio’ Eddie, which had earned him a glare and a reminder that it didn’t work on living things. Eventually they’d gone old school- charming coins that would glow bright blue as they got closer to each other and would turn green when they were farther away. It was the best plan they’d come up with. 

Richie didn’t want to admit how nervous he was about entering the maze alone- both for himself and for Eddie. Despite their constant training there was still a lot he didn’t know, he’d long since stopped trying to review everything while he waited. It just scared him more when he couldn’t remember something. 

He was also worried for his boyfriend. They’d been together for a few months now- the best months of Richie’s life, as he constantly told Stan and Mike- and he couldn’t stand the idea of something happening to him. Richie didn’t even care if he won the tournament, he just wanted Eddie to be safe. He knew that Eddie would never send up flares, no matter how hurt he was. It made Richie proud and worried. 

“Contestants, the first team may now enter.” Mcgonagall’s voice rang out, magically amplified. It was time. He and Eddie would be entering in next. 

The wait was the longest ten minutes of his life. The area had been magicked so that he couldn’t see or hear the crowds, which he was grateful for. He didn’t want to hear the cheers or groans as he battled creatures.  He wasn’t sure where they were but knew that everyone in the school, and the other schools, would soon be watching him. His parents had arrived that morning but he’d only seen them briefly before needing to leave. They’d be sitting with his friends, he was hoping that Mike could explain all the wizarding things to them. 

Far too soon Richie heard, “Contestants, the second team may now enter.” The hedge unfurled in front of him, allowing him access to walk in. Once he was in it closed behind him, blocking him inside the large maze. 

The first thing he did was check his coin. It was bright green, of course. It was too much to hope that he’d be near Eddie. 

Next, Richie looked in front of him, almost overwhelmed by all the shades of green he saw. The hedges blocked out the sky. He was surrounded by them. He pushed down the first wave of panic and made himself examine the situation. He was at a T- intersection. He strode up and turned left, trying to keep an eye on both the maze and his coin. The color didn’t change. He thought about turning around but this felt like the right direction so he continued, keeping his wand out and raised. 

Richie took several more twists and turns. He second guessed himself every time he took one path over the other. His coin never seemed to change color but he refused to second guess himself. He couldn’t. He knew that Eddie wouldn’t be worrying, he’d be focused on finding Richie. Richie owed him the same consideration. 

After twenty minutes he hadn't seen anything except hedges- no monsters, no contestants.  It was actually starting to worry him. Was he even in the maze? He hadn’t even heard anyone else, no screams of triumph or cries of pain. What if he had ended up in an unfinished section that was blocked off from the other sections? Then he’d never find Eddie. He paused, trying to calm himself down. He couldn’t let himself get in his own head, not now. It wouldn’t help. 

Then he felt himself sinking, slowly. He tried to leap out but only got sucked further down, his ankles had disappeared into some sort of brown goo. Looking down he tried to figure out what it was. Some sort of magical quicksand. The sand was in his shoes, squishing and cold. He couldn’t stand on it, it made him unstable, he kept wobbling around and nearly falling over. He couldn’t keep his balance normally and this was worse. He could feel sweat pooling on his hairline, panic starting to set in. It was his first challenge and he was already failing. They’d never rehearsed quicksand, how was he supposed to escape! The sand was creeping up his calves, claiming more of him. He knew he could send up flairs, admit defeat, but that seemed even worse, to give up so quick. 

Then he heard Eddie’s voice in his head- ‘Don’t panic, give yourself a minute to think. You can do this.’ Richie couldn’t give up yet, he just needed to calm down and think. 

Taking a deep breath he looked around. There wasn’t anything near him except for hedges, hedges and more hedges. 

“Bloody useless.” He mumbled. He was up to his knees now, he needed to act. He tried to scramble out, gripping the ground and pawing at it but he couldn’t get enough grip.  _ Think Richie!  _ He told himself. He could do this. He wasn’t the idiot of Ravenclaw. 

He looked around again. Hedges. Just hedges. 

Then he had a thought,  _ So use them.  _

He summoned one of the heartier looking vines from the hedges and, putting his wand between his teeth, started to pull himself out. It was slow going, his arms screamed from the effort but t thankfully, he was able to get unstuck. He collapsed on to the ground, taking deep halting breaths, until he finally forced himself to stand again. His shoes and legs were completely clean, like nothing had happened. 

Richie felt a surge of pride as he walked on, he did it. He made it through something on his own. He checked his coin again as he walked. He thought it was slightly less bright green, maybe he was finally getting close to Eddie. 

Checking the coin was a mistake. Richie didn’t hear the next thing until he nearly stepped on it. He didn’t know how he missed the strange pinching noises that came from the creature. He leapt back, narrowly avoiding the snapping claws of the Blast Ended Skrewt. He wasn’t as lucky with the blast though, it singed the bottom of his robe and quickly put out the fire before it spread. 

Richie knew he couldn’t back up much without risking falling in the quicksand again. So he stood his ground, trying to remember what they had learned about the creatures as it hissed at him, getting ready to strike again. 

They have armor across most of their body. Males had stingers on their backs, females had suckers to suck blood. They smelled bad and were hideous. 

As if the skrewt could hear his thoughts it leap at him again and he narrowly dodged the attack, leaping over it. . 

Now though, luckily for him, he was between the skrewt and the quicksand. He started flashing spells at it, not to harm the creature, he knew he couldn’t, but to drive it back. Inch by inch, it moved back until it’s back legs were in the quicksand. Then he paused, making sure the creature couldn’t escape. 

“Sorry mate,” He said, watching to struggle. “Hopefully Hagrid comes along to help you, I need to find Eddie.” 

He turned again, going back down the path he had started on.  He needed to find Eddie, that was all he cared about. 

“Come on you stupid coin, change colors!” He said, glaring at it. “Eds, where are you?” He asked, his voice a little softer, maybe a little scared. 

 

**Eddie**

Eddie couldn’t see.

One moment he’d been staring down at the coin in his hand -still green, which meant he was still nowhere near Richie- and the next, he was staring ahead at complete and utter darkness, as if someone had just turned off the already dim light in the blink of an eye. 

He had hoped he would have to wait a bit longer before facing his first obstacle, he’d barely had time to recover from running all the way from the castle to the quidditch field just in time for the canon to go off, signaling the start of the third and final task. 

He didn’t plan to be late, Richie and him had planned to meet up and walk to the field together but Eddie had been held up. By his mother of all people. 

Yes, his mother, who had been waiting for him outside the Slytherin common room, making Eddie think he was still asleep and having a nightmare or that maybe Bill’s boggart had escaped and come to taunt him in the form of his mother. 

“Surprised to see me, Eddie bear?”

Eddie stared at her, confused and slightly scared. “What are you doing here, Ma?” 

“I bet you’re surprised.” Sonia said, answering her own question and ignoring Eddie’s. “I was too, when I received a letter inviting me to attend the final task of the Triwizard Tournament that my son was apparently participating in.”

Eddie gulped. That explained why she was there. She knew about the tournament and she was probably here to drag Eddie home with her like he’d feared from the beginning. “I can explain, Ma.” 

“Can you, Eddie bear? Can you explain to me why you would do this? Join a deadly tournament and then lie to me about it.”

Eddie grimaced, she sounded hurt and disappointed and he couldn’t help but feel bad. “I didn’t want you to worry.”

“Well I am worried, Eddie,” Sonia said, glaring disapprovingly at her son. “And disappointed. I thought I taught you to be smarter than this, smarter than your father.”

Eddie felt a pang of hurt just like he always did at the mention of his father. “You didn’t teach me to be smart, you taught me to be scared.” Eddie spat out. “To be scared of the world, scared of magic.”

“And with good reason!” She said, raising her voice. “Magic killed your father and it could’ve killed you.” Her eyes started to well up with tears at some point and they’re now falling freely down her face. “What were you thinking Eddie? Facing a chimaera? Going into the forbidden forest? I could’ve lost you!”

Eddie sighed, moving forward to place a comforting hand over his mother’s arm. “You didn’t. I’m okay. I did all of those things and I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me. You should be proud.”

Sonia glared at Eddie, angry. “Proud?”

Eddie gulped, nodding. “I can actually win this, Ma. If we make first place, I’ll win.”

“You can’t make first place if you don’t compete.” Sonia said. “And I won’t let you to go there. You and I are going home. Now.”

Eddie sighed, he knew this was coming. The only reason his mother would willingly set a foot in Hogwarts would be to drag him away but he wasn’t about to let her. 

“I can’t go. I have to finish this. I can’t let Richie go into the maze alone.”

Sonia’s face twisted into an ugly grimace. “Ah, right.  _ Richie Tozier _ .” She spat the name out like it was poison. 

Eddie frowned. “You know about him?”

“After I found out about the tournament I bought the Daily Prophet hoping that it would tell me that it wasn't true, that my son didn’t go behind my back to join a suicidal contest. Imagine my surprise when I found out that not only he did but he got a boyfriend too.” Sonia explained, lips pursed in discontent. “The things they say about him, Eddie. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was the reason you joined the tournament. That boy is nothing but trouble.”

Eddie was shaking his head even before she finished talking. “He’s not. Whatever you read about him, it’s all lies. Richie’s great, Ma. He’s smart and brave and he’s saved my life multiple times.”

His mother huffed, angrily. “He’s a bad influence.” She said. “But don’t worry sweetheart. You won’t be seeing him again. In fact, you won’t be seeing anyone. After this, I’m not letting you come back to Hogwarts ever again.”

Eddie felt anger boiling up inside him. He thought back to the start of the year and his conversation with Bev. He had a lot of reasons to join the tournament but mostly he did it because he knew it was his best chance to get away from his mother. Now he remembered why he wanted that so badly.  

“No.” He said. “I’m not going back with you. Not now and not ever. I’m going into that maze, I’m winning this thing and then you’ll never see me again.”

Sonia gasped, horrified. “Eddie bear, you don’t know what you’re saying.”

“Oh, I do Ma. You said you wouldn’t be surprised if Richie was the reason I joined the tournament, well he isn't. You are. I wanted to prove to everyone that I’m not the scared little wizard who lost his father, but mostly I wanted to prove to myself that I could stand up to you and stop being afraid all the time.” Eddie had said before walking away from her as she cried for him to come back. 

Eddie had felt pretty brave then, standing up to his mother but that was gone now. Right now, standing alone in the middle of a huge maze in complete darkness, Eddie could feel fear starting to set in. 

He didn’t let it get to him though. He gripped his wand tighter in his hand -knowing that if he dropped it, there was a huge chance that he wouldn’t be able to find it- and raised it in front of him. 

“ _ Lumos _ .” Eddie muttered, watching as the tip of his wand lit up with warm light.

But before Eddie could shine the light around and decide which direction to go, his wand extinguished itself and Eddie was once again surrounded by darkness. He frowned down at where he assumed his wand was -not that he could see it- and cast the spell again, this time more forcefully, “ _ Lumos! _ ” 

Light appeared once again, but only momentarily before disappearing. 

“What the bloody hell?” 

Undeterred, Eddie repeated the action again and again but each time the light would turn off as quickly as it lit up and each time, Eddie felt his throat closing in, his heart beating faster and the skin of his hands getting more damp with sweat. He wasn’t scared of the darkness, no, but he was scared of what could be lurking in it. He tried not to panic but he couldn’t help but think of the creatures he wouldn’t be able to see, the traps he would no doubt walk right into, the hedges that would swallow him whole if he came too close to them. If he so much as took a wrong step he could die but if he stayed where he was, he was an easy prey for whatever else was wandering around in the maze. 

More importantly, if he stayed where he was he would never find Richie. 

That thought alone was enough to force Eddie to take a careful step forward, then another and another. He had both of his hands outstretched in front of him, one was holding his wand while the other taunted the air in front of him, hoping it would keep him from colliding against the hedges. 

He had no idea where he was going but he didn’t know that either back when he could see. He moved slowly but didn’t stop, especially not when he could hear noise around him. Noise that told him that he wasn’t alone, the crackling of dry leaves, the rattle of rocks and the scurrying of feet. Eddie kept moving as quietly as possible, hoping that whatever was making those sounds was just as blind in the darkness as he was. 

He didn’t know for how long he had been walking when he heard a louder sound, one that made him freeze. 

It was a scream, and he recognized the voice behind it. 

“Michelle! Michelle!” Samantha, the girl from Ilvermorny was calling out for her girlfriend, loudly. She was close, that much Eddie could tell but he couldn’t figure out which direction the noise was coming from. “Michelle! Where are you?”

Eddie grimaced, if he could hear her then all the creatures Eddie had been trying so hard to avoid probably could too. It was the first thing him and Richie had agreed on when they were told they would be starting off separately: no calling out for each other, no matter how desperate they were. It wasn’t worth the risk of drawing the attention of every creature in the maze towards them. Either Samantha hadn’t thought of that or she was way beyond the point of caring. 

“Michelle!” She cried again, her girlfriend’s name trailing off into a sob and Eddie felt his heart clench. He understood how she was feeling, he was also scared and worried about Richie.

He started walking again, towards Samantha or so he hoped. Maybe if he found her, the two of them could team up to find their partners, two brains are supposed to think better than just one after all. At this point, Eddie didn’t care much about the tournament, the two girls could win for all he cared, finding Richie was much more important. 

“Miche- ah!” The name was cut off by a scream, followed by growls and snarls and Eddie felt his blood run cold. Samantha screamed again, alternating between yelling spells and calling her girlfriend’s name. Eddie didn’t realize he had broken off into a sprint until he collided head front against a hedge and fell on his back. He was lucky not to drop his wand as he fell because as soon as he tried to get up and rush to Samantha’s aid, he felt something wrap around his ankle. 

“Oh shit, not again.” Eddie muttered, remembering the second task and how he almost died suffocated by a plant. He couldn’t see the vines this time but he recalled the way they felt as they crawled all up his legs. This time though, he did have magic. 

“ _ Diffindo _ !” 

He casted the spell over and over, careful not to point where his legs were struggling to get free but at the place that he supposed the vines were coming from. In the background he could still hear Samantha and the creature she was fighting. 

It didn’t sound like she was winning. 

Just as Eddie freed himself and stumble into his feet, the noises stopped abruptly. 

Eddie stood frozen on the spot, silent and waiting to hear some sort of noise that he could follow. After a few seconds, he heard whimpering and rushed off in the direction of the sound.

He hadn’t been running long when he saw Samantha. It took him a moment to realize that he could see again, at some point, the darkness had dissipated and Eddie was able to see a bleeding girl lying on the floor. He was relieved to see that she was breathing if only slightly.

Eddie kneeled down next to her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. She flinched and tried to crawl away from him, scared out of her mind. 

“It’s just me, Sam. Eddie? From Hogwarts, yeah?” 

Her eyes were unfocused but Eddie could see she had recognized him or at least, recognized that he wouldn’t hurt her. She remained unmoving, in fact it seemed like she couldn’t move at all. 

There was no way Eddie could carry her and even if he could, it would only put them both in danger if they came across something else, as she would be unable to defend herself. But he couldn’t leave her there either, not like this. There was only one thing Eddie thought he could do. 

“You’re going to be okay, do you hear me?” Eddie whispered soothingly. He lifted his wand, “ _ Vermillious _ .” The wand fired a jet of red sparks into the sky. 

With one last look at Samantha, he stood up and walked away, knowing that someone would come for her soon. She would be safe now. 

He pictured Michelle, walking aimlessly around the maze, hoping to find her girlfriend, not knowing that she was no longer there. Would they let her know? Send her some kind of message to tell her that her Samantha was hurt? If something happened to Richie, would they let Eddie know?

Images of his boyfriend lying bloodied on the floor flooded Eddie’s mind and he looked down at his coin hoping to see it had turned blue since the last time he checked it.

It hadn’t. 

“Damn it, Richie. Where are you?” He muttered, but instead of his boyfriend’s voice answering him, like Eddie had hoped, what he heard was a grunt coming from his right. 

Skin prickling with fear, he spared a glance in the direction of the sound, jaw clenching when he saw what it was.

It was a warthog-like creature and it was glaring at him, stomping his hoof on the ground and huffing angrily. As soon as Eddie made eye contact with it, the Tebo charged against him, turning invisible.  

Eddie didn’t waste his time trying to attack it, knowing it would be pointless. He couldn’t see it, only hear it and if by some miracle he managed to hit it with a spell, its hide was supposed to be incredibly strong and it probably wouldn’t even hurt it. So Eddie started running in the opposite direction instead, taking turn after turn and paying no attention to where he was going, focused only on getting the Tebo off his trail but no matter how fast he ran, he could still hear the sound of hooves behind him. 

After a while Eddie started getting tired, his legs threatening to give up soon and much to his horror, he noticed that he had just taken a wrong turn and was now approaching a dead end, the large hedge at the end of the passageway drawing closer and closer. 

“Shit, shit, shit.” Eddie muttered. He didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t stop running or the Tebo would crash against him. He couldn’t go over the hedge or he would be disqualified and if he tried to go through it, the greenery would turn into stone. If he-

“Stone!” Eddie gasped, getting an idea. He pointed the wand at the hedge in front of him and waited until he was only three feet away to yell, “ _ Duro _ !” and just as he was about to collide against it he launched himself to his right at the last second, landing on the floor with a grunt of pain. The Tebo didn’t react that fast, it crashed against the hedge that Eddie just had turned into solid stone. It stumbled backwards and the dropped unconscious on the ground. Eddie let out a disbelieving bark of laughter. 

“I can’t believe that fucking worked!” 

The Tebo let out a grunt and Eddie snapped his mouth shut. Quietly, he stood up, wincing at the pain on his shoulder from landing on it and walked away from the creature.

Eddie was lucky enough not to run into something else right away. He didn’t think he had the energy to fight right now.  

He walked aimlessly for what felt like hours, glancing down at the coin every once in a while. He didn’t know if it was wishful thinking or a trick of the light but he felt like it was turning slightly bluer the more he walked. He might just be getting closer to Richie. The thought made a small smile appear on Eddie’s face. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Eddie registered movement. He sighed, “Here we go again.” 

He turned around expecting to find yet another creature but gasped when he saw it was something else. 

“Richie.” He whispered in disbelief. 

He was standing with his back to Eddie, unmoving. Eddie threw caution into the wind and ran to him. He was within arm’s reach when Richie turned around and Eddie stopped in his tracks, covering his mouth to muffle a scream. 

“Eddie.” Richie grumbled, blood bubbling out of his mouth before dropping to his knees, holding his side where blood was pouring out and pooling at Eddie’s feet at an alarming rate. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE'RE BACK!!!
> 
> Enjoy the first half of the third (and final!) task and let us know what you think, you know we LOVE talking about this fic :D
> 
> We promise the wait for the next chap won't be THAT long!

**Author's Note:**

> "Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it." ― Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
> 
> Come talk to us on tumblr! [jem-castairs-is-perfection](http://jem-carstairs-is-perfection.tumblr.com/) & [tinyarmedtrex](https://tinyarmedtrex.tumblr.com/)


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